Photographer: Robert Adams – Summer Nights Walking

Posted on by tonyoca

Adams created a series of images walking within and on the outskirts of Longmont, Colorado (ASX, 2010).

A number of things strike me about the images within the set, some of which are shown below.

  • They are square in format. This makes the viewer focus on whatever is in the image, front and centre. I also feel that it adds an intensity that would not be present in a landscape format. There is a sense of claustrophobia which in turn evokes a feeling of anxiety. What is outside the frame of the images perhaps? I think this is because the images are taken at night, when we ourselves walk at night, we cannot see that much in our peripheral vision like we can during the day – if alone we worry what else is around us and that feeling is brought to mind here.
  • No two images are the same in terms of their framing, Each is different and yet they still seem to fit together as a set. I think that this is because of the consistency of format, and the use of black and white also creates a conformity between each image.
  • The different view points seem to represent something, Fig. 4 is a good example of an image that a photographer might not normally make, but is very much a scene that one might experience when walking around a city at night, the glare of the headlights through the trees. Fig.1 is another good example, the shadow of the tree is exactly what one would look at if walking by.

Adams in my view has paid a lot of attention to detail as he has walked around Longmont, and then he has found a way to capture each detail within the image in the manner that one would see it if one were there. This has been his guiding principle, the framing of the images has not followed any other formula. No classic framing, no consistency between images, simply the mindfulness to capture the detail.

The result of this is approach is that one feels like one is making the same journey as Adams, “This walk is not only Adams walk but yours, in your minds eye” (ASX, 2010). For me, this is an incredibly powerful technique for representing a journey.

  • Fig. 1 Longmont, Colorado (1976)
  • Fig. 2 Untitled (1981)
  • Fig. 3 Longmont, Colorado (1980)
  • Fig. 4 Longmont Colorado (1980)

Bibliography

ASX, E., 2010. Robert Adams -“Summer Nights Walking” (2009). [online] AMERICAN SUBURB X. Available at: <https://americansuburbx.com/2010/04/robert-adams-summer-nights-walking-2009.html> [Accessed 6 February 2021].

Figures

Figure 1. Adams, R., 1976. Longmont, Colorado. [image] Available at: <https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704896104575139913492729660> [Accessed 6 February 2021].

Figure 2. Adams, R., 1981. Untitled. [image] Available at: <https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704896104575139913492729660> [Accessed 6 February 2021].

Figure 3. Adams, R., 1980. Longmont, Colorado. [image] Available at: <https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704896104575139913492729660> [Accessed 6 February 2021].

Figure 4. Adams, R., 1980. Longmont, Colorado. [image] Available at: <https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704896104575139913492729660> [Accessed 6 February 2021].