Memory and optimism in Robert Adams’ ‘The Plains, Remembered Again’

“On the prairie there is sometimes a quiet so absolute that it allows one to begin again, to love the future.” So Robert Adams is quoted in this evocative new book of painted wood blocks based on memories of his childhood in rural Colorado. Best known for his photographs of the Western landscape and his philosophical writings on photography, beauty and the environment, Adams took up this body of work during the pandemic, when he discovered some tools left behind by his father and grandfather. On this Memorial Day weekend, we appreciate their quiet American optimism.

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