Remains of a eucalyptus windbreak, Redlands, California Possibly 1982 - 1990

Robert Adams made this photograph, *Remains of a eucalyptus windbreak, Redlands, California*, with a camera, of course, and the final image is an exercise in greyscale. The tones all sit so nicely together, full of subtle variation. It's a process of slowly building up detail, one tone at a time. I like the surface of the print; it feels like a drawing! The almost complete absence of deep black throws the image into another realm, like faded memory. Look closely at the way the trees hang down in clumps, almost like Spanish moss; they're so tangible that you feel you could reach out and touch them. I love how the eye travels from the tangle of dark vegetation to the open space on the ground and then further back into the composition to the other trees in the background. I am reminded of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, who documented industrial structures with the same precision and attention to detail. This photograph is like a quiet poem. I like how it embraces complexity over simple answers, and it invites us to look at the world a little differently.