Robert Adams at the Getty

[Oren Grad]

What looks to be a major Robert Adams retrospective is now up at the Getty Museum in LA:

www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/adams/

Thanks to David Emerick over at Mike Johnston's blog for the heads-up:

theonlinephotographer.blogspot.com/2006/02/landscapes-of-harmony-and-dissonance.html

[paulr]

do you know if it's going to travel?

[Oren Grad]

They don't say, but perhaps not - the press kit page indicates that the event marks a major acquisition by the Getty itself, rather than their hosting a collection assembled from elsewhere.

[Chris S]

We went to this exhibit 2 weeks ago and were puzzled how this guy gets a show?My wife and I were very dissapointed.People would walk in and just walk right out of the two rooms he was in with similar feelings.On the plus side we did get to see a nice Edward Weston print and a Dorthea Lang that was nice.Of course the Van Gough paintings are always worth the trip.I'm waiting for them to show the Brett Weston collection they recently aquired.We are huge fans of all the Westons.But as far as Robert Adams goes I just don't get it.

[tim atherton]

"We went to this exhibit 2 weeks ago and were puzzled how this guy gets a show?"

why? what puzzles you? what is it you think you don't get?

[Jim Ewins]

I got one of his books from the library and found his images poor technically and subject matter trite or boring. The text read like he is pandering to the environmentalist crowd to give him stature. Not so unusual, that.

[Paddy Quinn]

"and found his images poor technically"

I don't understand what you mean by that - could you explain.

For you, what are examples of images that are good, technically (and that aren't trite?)

[Chris S]

I agree --------------->"and found his images poor technically" poor use of tonal range also comes to mind

"For you, what are examples of images that are good, technically (and that aren't trite?)"

For me Ansel of course, Brett Weston, Edward Weston, Cole Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Minor White, John Sexton, Howard Bond, Jerry Uelsmann come to mind for a start

[paulr]

Adams is a Fraud! seems like the next jihad for anyone tired of film vs. digital.

the last of these "ain't nature grand" vs. subtlety showdowns went down in this (recent!) thread:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/505095.html#590833

[Merg Ross]

Last week I had the opportunity to view the Robert Adams exhibition at Getty Center. I was in town to attend the exhibition, Perceptions, currently at Los Angeles Valley College featuring the works of Adams, Weston, Cunningham, Lange, White and others. My thread, West Coast Photography, several days ago details the history of that exhibition.

The Robert Adams exhibition left me mystified as to his popularity. Technically the images were poor and the subject matter repetitious. In my opinion there were far too many prints displayed and my interest waned after about ten minutes.

For those who visit Getty Center be sure to view the Courbet and the Modern Landscape exhibition. It demonstrates how Courbet (1819-1877) was influenced by the new medium (photography) and the effect it had on framing and composition of landscape painting. Photographs from the Getty Collection, including a Gustave Le gray albumen silver print accompany the exhibition.