I don’t travel much in the Western U.S., but when I do, my inner GPS doesn’t know what to do with the wide open spaces. Such was the case on my first trip to Denver this weekend. I had to stop myself from asking where the big East Coast trees are, and enjoy the distant Rockies on their own terms.
Luckily, I stumbled on a great exhibit of Robert Adams photographs, The Place We Live, to help translate the Colorado landscape.
For me, Adams’ black-and-white photos go a long way to explaining Westerners’ libertarian streak and why the land sustains them. They also make me appreciate the diversity of my own country–something I need to be reminded of after long stretches inside the Beltway.
I did spend some time out at the admittedly beautiful Red Rocks National Park, but found I snapped the most photos in Denver’s LoDo historic district, where I couldn’t get enough of the old warehouses.
A city girl to the last.
The Place We Live continues at the Denver Art Museum through January 2, 2012, then travels to Los Angeles. Yale has the full selection of photos online.
[...] spare black-and-white landscapes and thinking about what it means to be Western. Adams’ translation of the wide open spaces made me understand a little bit better. Runs through January 1, 2012. Share [...]