Grand Mesa and the Edge of Grand Junction, Colorado, From the Missouri West series

Date1977

Maker Robert Adams American, born 1937

Label TextSince the 1960s, Robert Adams has photographed man-altered landscapes from Colorado to Wyoming and Oregon. In them he has found a cautionary tale. Adams’ gaze is sensitive, but also penetrating as he witnesses changing landscapes and finds evidence of human disruption of nature’s way. He mourns the loss of Eden and reminds us that the human impact on nature is irreversible. In The Missouri West series, Adams frames each view to include signs of man’s encroaching presence. Here, in Grand Mesa and the Edge of Grand Junction, a telephone line runs through an otherwise pastoral landscape.

Object number82.15

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "The Paving of Paradise: A Century of Photographs of the Western Landscape", May 7, 1998 - January 24, 1999 Portland Art Museum, OR, ROBERT ADAMS PHOTOGRAPHS, November 17, 1987 - January 31, 1988. (11/17/1987 - 01/31/1988) Seattle Art Museum, AMERICAN IMAGES, NEW WORK BY TWENTY CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHERS, Set B, Group V, 1981 (did not travel), Sept. 24 - Nov. 29, 1981. (09/24/1981 - 11/29/1981)

Credit LineGift of the American Telephone and Telegraph Co.

Dimensions9 x 11 3/16 in. (22.9 x 28.4 cm)

MediumGelatin silver print