Table lands worn by recreational vehicles; Denver at right 1977

Robert Adams made this gelatin silver print of a landscape scarred by human activity. It makes me think about how an artist sees something that most people would just pass by and turn it into art. I'm picturing Adams out there in the Denver landscape, maybe feeling a little conflicted. There's this tension between the natural world and what we humans do to it. That beat-up table is fascinating. Like, what's its story? Who left it there, and why? Maybe it's about the temporary nature of things, how everything changes and nothing stays the same. There's something very sad about the loss of nature. This photo reminds me of other land artists, like Robert Smithson, who were also interested in the relationship between humans and the environment. Artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity.