Robert Adams (photographer)
Encyclopedia
Robert Adams is an American photographer who has focused on the changing landscape of the American West. His work first came to prominence in the mid-1970s through the book The New West (1974) and the exhibition New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape (1975). He was a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Fellow in photography in 1973 and 1980, and he received the MacArthur Foundation
's MacArthur Fellowship in 1994. In 2009, he received the Hasselblad Award
for his achievements in photography. He is represented by the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco and the Matthew Marks Gallery
in New York.
, and lived in Madison, Wisconsin briefly before moving to Wheat Ridge, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, in 1952. As a child he developed chronic bronchial problems, and part of the reason his family moved to Colorado was to help alleviate those problems. At age 15 he began to experience chronic bronchial problems, and at age 12 he contracted polio in his back, left arm, and hand but was able to recover. He continued to suffer from asthma and allergy problems.
He has one younger sister, named Carolyn.
During his childhood, Adams often accompanied his father on walks and hikes through the woods. Adams was a Boy Scout and worked in the summers of his adolescence boys' camps in the Rocky Mountains. In 1955, he hunted for the last time.
During high school, he studied architectural drawing for a year.
In 1959, Adams enrolled in the University of Colorado, Boulder for his freshman year, but decided to transfer the next year to the University of Redlands
in California. He received his B.A. in English from Redlands in 1959, and then went on to USC for his postgraduate study in English, from which he received his Ph.D. in English in 1965. In 1960, he married Kerstin Mornestam, originally from Sweden
, whom he had met at Redlands. In 1962 they moved back to Colorado, and Adams began teaching English at Colorado College
in Colorado Springs. In 1963, Adams bought a 35mm reflex camera and began to take pictures mostly of nature and architecture. He soon read complete sets of Camera Work
and Aperture
at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. He learned photographic technique from Myron Wood, a professional photographer who lived in Colorado. In 1967, he began to teach only part-time in order to have more time to photograph.. He met John Szarkowski
on a trip to New York City in 1969. The museum later bought four of his prints.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibited a mid-career retrospective of his work in 1989.
Adams's master sets are held at the Yale University Art Gallery
, which organized "The Place We Live," the definitive retrospective exhibition and publication of his work.
In 2008, he was exposed at Les Rencontres d'Arles festival, France.
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
Fellow in photography in 1973 and 1980, and he received the MacArthur Foundation
MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
's MacArthur Fellowship in 1994. In 2009, he received the Hasselblad Award
Hasselblad Award
The Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography is an award granted to "a photographer recognized for major achievements".The award – and the foundation – was set up from the estate of Erna and Victor Hasselblad...
for his achievements in photography. He is represented by the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco and the Matthew Marks Gallery
Matthew Marks Gallery
Matthew Marks is an art gallery located in the New York City neighborhood of Chelsea. Founded in the early 1990s by Matthew Marks, it specializes in modern and contemporary art in a variety of media: including painting, sculpture, photography, installation art, film, and drawings and prints...
in New York.
Biography
Adams is the son of Lois Hickman Adams and Ross Adams. He was born on May 8, 1937 in Orange, New JerseyOrange, New Jersey
The City of Orange is a city and township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 30,134...
, and lived in Madison, Wisconsin briefly before moving to Wheat Ridge, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, in 1952. As a child he developed chronic bronchial problems, and part of the reason his family moved to Colorado was to help alleviate those problems. At age 15 he began to experience chronic bronchial problems, and at age 12 he contracted polio in his back, left arm, and hand but was able to recover. He continued to suffer from asthma and allergy problems.
He has one younger sister, named Carolyn.
During his childhood, Adams often accompanied his father on walks and hikes through the woods. Adams was a Boy Scout and worked in the summers of his adolescence boys' camps in the Rocky Mountains. In 1955, he hunted for the last time.
During high school, he studied architectural drawing for a year.
In 1959, Adams enrolled in the University of Colorado, Boulder for his freshman year, but decided to transfer the next year to the University of Redlands
University of Redlands
The University of Redlands is a private liberal arts and sciences university located in Redlands, California. The university's campus sits on near downtown Redlands. The university was founded in 1907 and was associated with the American Baptist Church. The land for the university was donated by...
in California. He received his B.A. in English from Redlands in 1959, and then went on to USC for his postgraduate study in English, from which he received his Ph.D. in English in 1965. In 1960, he married Kerstin Mornestam, originally from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, whom he had met at Redlands. In 1962 they moved back to Colorado, and Adams began teaching English at Colorado College
Colorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
in Colorado Springs. In 1963, Adams bought a 35mm reflex camera and began to take pictures mostly of nature and architecture. He soon read complete sets of Camera Work
Camera Work
Camera Work was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It is known for its many high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world and its editorial purpose to establish photography as a fine art...
and Aperture
Aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...
at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. He learned photographic technique from Myron Wood, a professional photographer who lived in Colorado. In 1967, he began to teach only part-time in order to have more time to photograph.. He met John Szarkowski
John Szarkowski
John Szarkowski was a photographer, curator, historian, and critic. From 1962 to 1991 Szarkowski was the Director of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art.-Early life and career:...
on a trip to New York City in 1969. The museum later bought four of his prints.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibited a mid-career retrospective of his work in 1989.
Adams's master sets are held at the Yale University Art Gallery
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...
, which organized "The Place We Live," the definitive retrospective exhibition and publication of his work.
In 2008, he was exposed at Les Rencontres d'Arles festival, France.
The New West
Between 1968 and 1971, Adams photographed the new suburban developments that were being built along the Colorado Front Range. The pictures were influential in their portrayal of the American West as a place of homogenized experience as well as in their contradiction between the beauty of the landscape and human presence.What We Bought
In 1973 and 1974, Adams created a comprehensive document that dispelled romantic notions of the American West. His pictures show tract housing with mountain ranges in the distance, trailer lots devoid of people, suburban streets through generic windows, shopping mall interiors, and parking lots.Prairie
An early publication by Adams that included pictures that were the in an exhibition at the Denver Art Museum in 1978 and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1979.Turning Back
Between 1999 and 2003, Adams embarked on a series of photographs centering on the deforestation of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The subtext for the series was the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition, which led to the opening of the West for commercial interests. The series ends with a group of pictures taken in eastern Oregon, which, according to Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times, "suggest that perfect moments can still be found in the remote, beleaguered West, where Mr. Adams lives."Summer Nights, Walking
A revised edition of Adams's early book "Summer Nights" published by Aperture, Inc.Famous photographs
- East from Flagstaff Mountain, 1975
- Burning Oil Sludge North of Denver, 1973 http://americanart.si.edu/images/1983/1983.110.7_1b.jpg
Published books
- White Churches of the Plains, Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder, CO (1970).
- The New West: Landscapes Along the Colorado Front Range, Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder, CO (1974).
- The Architecture and Art of Early Hispanic Colorado, Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder, CO (1974).
- Denver: A Photographic Survey of the Metropolitan Area, Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder, CO (1977).
- Prairie, Denver Art Museum, CO (1978).
- From the Missouri West, Aperture, Millerton, N.Y. (1980).
- Beauty in Photography: Essays in Defense of Traditional Values, Aperture, Millerton, NY (1981).
- Listening to the River: Seasons in the American West, Aperture, NY (1994).
- Why People Photograph: Selected Essays and Reviews, Aperture, NY (1994).
- Cottonwoods, Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington D.C. (1994).
- West from the Columbia: Views at the River Mouth, Aperture, NY (1995).
- Beauty in Photography, Aperture, NY (1996).
- I Hear the Leaves and Love the Light, Nazraeli Press, Tucson, AZ (1999).
- Eden, Roth Horowitz, NY (1999).
- Notes for Friends: Along Colorado Roads, University Press of Colorado, Boulder (1999).
- California: Views by Robert Adams of the Los Angeles Basin 1978-1983, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York (2000).
- Our Lives and Our Children: Photographs Taken Near the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, Aperture, Millerton, NY (1984).
- Summer Nights, Aperture, NY (1985).
- Los Angeles Spring, Aperture, NY (1986).
- Perfect Times, Perfect Places, Aperture, NY (1988).
- To Make It Home: Photographs of the American West, Aperture, NY (1989).
- Boddhisattva: A Gandharan Face, Nazraeli Press, Tucson, AZ (2001).
- Commercial Residential: Landscapes along the Colorado Front Range, 1968-1972, Roth Horowitz, NY (2002).
- Alders, Nazraeli Press, Tucson, AZ (2002).
- Sunlight, Solitude, Democracy, Home, Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery / Reed College., Portland, OR (2002).
- Commercial Residential, Roth Horowitz, NY (2003).
- No Small Journeys: Across Shopping Center Parking Lots, Down City Streets, 1979-1982", Matthew Marks Gallery, NY (2003).
- Turning Back: A Photographic Journal of Re-exploration, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York (2005).
- Pine Valley, Nazraeli Press, Tucson, AZ (2005).
- A Portrait in Landscapes", Nazraeli Press, Tucson, AZ (2005).
- Still Lives at Manzanita, Nazraeli Press, Tucson, AZ (2006).
- Interiors 1973-1974, Nazraeli Press, Tucson, AZ (2006).
- Along Some Rivers: Photographs and Conversation, Aperture, NY (2006).
- Time Passes, Foundation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris (2007).
- Questions for an Overcast Day, Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco (2007).
- Close at Hand", Lodima Press, Revere, PA (2008).
- What We Bought: The New World, Scenes from the Denver Metropolitan Area, 1970-1974", Stiftung Niedersachsen, Hannover, Germany (1995). 2nd edition, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (2009).
- Tree Line: Hasselblad Award 2009", Hasselblad Foundation, Göteborg, Sweden, and Steidl, Göttingen, Germany, (2009).
- Summer Nights, Walking: Along the Colorado Front Range, 1976-1982", Aperture, New York, and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (2009).
- Denver: A Photographic Survey of the Metropolitan Area, 1970-1974, Rev. edition, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (2009).
- What Can We Believe Where? Photographs of the American West", Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (2010).
- Gone? Colorado in the 1980s", Steidl, Göttingen, Germany (2010).
- Sea Stories", Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (2011).
- This Day: Photographs from Twenty-Five Years, The Northwest Coast", Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (2011).