American Silence: The Photographs of Robert Adams, 1965--2015

"Compelling photographs by Robert Adams explore the profound questions of our responsibility to the land and the moral dilemmas of progress. Working in Colorado, California, and Oregon from 1965 to 2015, Robert Adams has photographed suburban sprawl, strip malls, highways, homes, and the land itself, seeking to reveal both the ravages we have inflicted upon it and its enduring beauty. Unwavering in his belief that the natural landscape can bestow a sense of grace on those who experience it, Adams captures both the silence that the beauty of nature can instill in us-the quietude born of awe and respect, hope and redemption-and our own silence in the face of its destruction. He has transformed "the silence of light" he sees on the prairie, in the woods, and by the ocean into pictures that not only celebrate nature's beauty but can also question our silent complicity in its desecration by consumerism, industrialization, and the lack of environmental stewardship. At once specific but sweeping, this substantial body of work is united by the reverential way Adams looks at the world around him, as he asks us to look and to care, to hope and to choose. American Silence traces the evolution of Adams' work, highlighting the importance of faith to his art and following, through his elegant visual reckonings, how "what was" has become "what is." Richly illustrated, this extensive monograph includes an in-depth overview by award-winning curator Sarah Greenough as well as personal reflections by celebrated author Terry Tempest Williams and by Robert Adams himself. As he writes, "What will America be?""--