Assignment 4 Preliminary Work

Spent the last week or so researching material.  Chose Robert Adams as the subject. Not really sure why other than his photography appealed more to me than the other suggested subjects. 'Liking' or 'disliking' particular works seems to be a gut reaction probably triggered by other memories. Sometimes it is an error to over-analyse a reaction because to do that we have to rationalise something that by its nature is irrational. We are left dissecting the image to the point that it no longer exists as a whole  or we allow ourselves to be persuaded by the views of others. It is a noticeable element of current photography that what is seen as acceptable is remarkably narrow and is often little more than todays fashion.

It is highly unlikely the photographs produced by Robert Adams, if a newcomer, would be exhibited today as landscapes went out of fashion a few years ago and only just are being re-considered. I recall a lecture by Peter Paterson a landscape photographer whose work, for me was brilliant and at times breathtaking. He showed examples of his earlier work and then by progression his latest work. There had been a noticeable shift in style. When asked why this had occurred he said that he found that, in order to get his work accepted for exhibitions, he had had to change to a 'modern' style using all the tricks of the software available.  Personally I felt that this was a great loss.

For someone who is so well known there is very little external assessment of his photography. (It is interesting that the Wikipedia entry is is seen as something that needs external input as most of the material is considered to have been entered by someone close to the subject). Maybe this is because he is a living artist or possibly because he is an accomplished writer who you would take on at your peril. Whatever the cause one is left with the task of trying to build a picture from his own utterances and writing. Fortunately there is a mass of material as he is a prolific writer of books. Instead of scratching around trying to find something some one said or did for clues the task is to sift through the mass of material.

Two of his books "Beauty in Photography" and"Why People Photograph" seem to offer a lot of information about the influences that bear upon his work yet contain no examples of his work. As he argues it is unreasonable to be a critic of his work if one does not look at his photographs and that is my next area of work.