What Can We Believe Where? Photogrphs of the American West

Sincetakingupphotographyinthemid-1960s,RobertAdams(born1937)hasquietlybecomeoneofthemostinfluentialchroniclersoftheevolvingAmericanlandscape.CarefullyeditedbyAdamsfromaremarkablebodyofworkthatspansoverfourdecades,WhatCanWeBelieveWhere?PhotographsoftheAmericanWest,1965–2005presentsanarrativesequenceofmorethan100tritoneimagesthatrevealsasteadfastconcernformankind’sincreasinglytragicrelationshipwiththenaturalworld.Adams’sunderstatedyetarrestingpicturesofthevastColoradoplains,therapidsuburbanizationoftheDenverandColoradoSpringsareas,andtheecologicaldevastationofthePacificNorthwestregionoftheUnitedStatesregisterwithsubtleprecisionthecomplexandoftenfragilebeautyofthescenestheydepict.ThemostaccessiblecollectionofAdams’sworktodate,thiscompactandthought-provokingvolumeisanessentialadditiontothebookshelvesofstudents,photographers,andanyoneinterestedintherecenthistoryoftheAmericanWestanditswiderimplications.