Terri Whitlock, curatorial associate, photography, SFMOMA
In his photographs, Adams documents a new a subject we think we already know, the landscape of western North America. His approach encourages us to reconsider notions of grandness and beauty and to contemplate the complex relationship between the landscape and its inhabitants. Whitlock discusses Adams’s recent project Turning Back, in which he reflects on the Lewis and Clark expedition, the metaphorical implications of their difficult journey home, the legacy of logging, and the hopefulness to be found in this story.