The Sea Beach 2015

Robert Adams made this photograph, "The Sea Beach," and you can see that the tones are silvery, dreamy. I like to think about the artist standing on the beach, the wind whipping around him, trying to capture the fleeting moment. Did he feel small against the immensity of the sky and the ocean? Did he see a metaphor for life itself in the endless waves and the ever-changing clouds? I can see in the layered composition a sense of depth, drawing me into the scene. The placement of the horizon line, the subtle textures of the sand, and the way the light filters through the clouds, all point to a particular feeling. Adams’ work reminds me of other landscape photographers who are engaged in a kind of visual poetry. Painters, too, have tried to capture the essence of nature, Turner comes to mind, or Constable, each with their own way of seeing and feeling. Artists are always borrowing from each other, remixing ideas across time, and through this ongoing exchange, new ways of seeing emerge.