Robert Adams: Turning Back
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- čas přidán 1. 11. 2012
- In conjunction with the museum's spring 2007 exhibit "Robert Adams: Turning Back" we sent Daniel Houghton '06 to Oregon to interview photographer Robert Adams.
Adams took the Bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 2004 as an opportunity to revisit the Oregon landscape that the explorers had described as a vast forest of ancient evergreens. Sent by President Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Territory purchased from the French in 1803, Lewis and Clark mapped the land, assessing its natural resources and forming diplomatic connections with its indigenous peoples. On their journey westward they also discovered new species of trees and collected numerous specimens. But on their return east they experienced violent encounters with some of the native tribes and, in Adams's words, began to "foul up." It was then that they murdered some of the indigenous peoples; Lewis himself died on the return, an apparent suicide.
"We need to do better than they did on the return trip," says Adams, who started the project of Turning Back at the Pacific Coast and roughly retraced the explorers' journey eastward. In so doing Adams draws a compelling parallel between the explorers' adversity and what he views as our own current predicament. The photos in the suite serve as observances of what little remains of the majestic landscape Lewis and Clark first encountered.
I dont know how many times I have watched this video but I always come back with something new from it
Still come back to this and watch it from time to time, my favorite photographer and a real gift to us all.
Yes. But wow listen to his other interviews and he is a very depressed individual. Sad. But very good work and hugely important figure!
I love this guy so so much.
Possibly the best video I’ve seen on CZcams. Or, maybe just want I needed to hear now.
Thank you for sharing, artists like Mr Adams are integral to my creative practice. Here in Australia the sense of isolation seems sometimes over bearing; but when I hear Mr Adams speak, I know it is all worth while.
He's right about small museums. I'm so fortunate to work across the street from the Spencer at the University of Kansas. They have a walk-in Friday, when you can just go to their viewing room and make your request, and they'll gladly bring out the artwork and set it up for you. I've gotten to see original work by so many artists and photographers. They're also very knowledgeable and friendly.
almost every project begins with a gift ... thank you to Robert from Michael Adams (photographer, author from Germany)!
Photo Books without words. The chance to dream. I thought I was alone on an island.
Robert nails it re. art, teaching and life as he experienced as an photographer........
Love the editing on this vid
I absolutely admire and respect Robert Adams' lifelong dedication and mastery. His pictures are so poignant and lucid. I also share the same sad view on our "modern" world, something he sums up very well in the later part of the interview: "The glory of the natural world and the tragic nature of human beings".
However, when it comes to the questions he asks (9:12): "What have we traded, what do we get in exchange?" He implicitly criticizes the timber industry when he owns the sleek polished ebony chairs and table in the background of the room there. The same extractive practices happened somewhere else in the world for him to get the furniture on which he seats.
My point is, today we need the tools (the CZcams servers that carry the data forth and back) and products (the laptop I use to write that message here) or objects which cause a lot of environmental damage to say (and do) something about that very damage. That is, we are pulled deeper and deeper in a large ecological maelstrom. And it seems like we can no longer get off as Robert Adams rightfully observes (11:36).
Michaël Muller There's nothing to suggest the furniture Adams owns is due to clear cutting. He's an old man with old tastes - clear cutting is a relatively recent phenomenon and it's this heedless disregard of the value of the natural landscape that his work protests, not to practical, judicious or respectful uses of nature. While I found your comment essentially rational, your criticisms of the artist here are quite baseless. Robert Adams is far from a hypocrite.
You're deriving an implication that isn't necessarily there. He's just asking what do we actually get for conquering the earth's natural resources to the degree we have ? He isn't ted kaczynski lol
Thank you for this video, and in particular your beautiful and insightful commentary. A wonderful start to my day.
Thank you for this.
Thank you for uploading this. I'm somehow attracted to his images and their aesthetic.
💛
Books about deforestation are so cool that everyone should own a few.
your self righteousness is showing
You're welcome. We own one of three complete editions of his Turning Back portfolio. Keep an eye on our Twitter stream (@middartmuseum), since we tend to tweet when images from that portfolio in particular are on view (in fact, we have one up right now).
Has Adam’s moved to digital since he said it’s more about being out there vs working on the picture later?
Is it easier to get a very good print from a digital file than from a negative? I doubt it very much.
@@misterleary they’re both easy if you know what you’re doing.
@@nickfanzo True!
I wish his books were re-printed more often so the price of old prints is driven down. I absolutely cant afford the ones I want (there are 3 in particular I really want).
wow not sure whether to laugh or cry. probably will just smoke a cigarette.
This must rank as the most boring set of snaps ever, totally without any merit whatsoever! The art gatekeepers have excelled themselves with this banal rubbish.