A collection of inspiring essays by the photographer Robert Adams, who
advocates the meaningfulness of art in a disillusioned society
In Art Can Help, the internationally acclaimed American photographer
Robert Adams offers over two dozen meditations on the purpose of art and
the responsibility of the artist. In particular, Adams advocates art
that evokes beauty without irony or sentimentality, art that "encourages
us to gratitude and engagement, and is of both personal and civic
consequence." Following an introduction, the book begins with two short
essays on the works of the American painter Edward Hopper, an artist
venerated by Adams. The rest of this compilation contains texts--more
than half of which have never before been published--that contemplate
one or two works by an individual artist. The pictures discussed are by
noted photographers such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Emmet Gowin,
Dorothea Lange, Abelardo Morell, Edward Ranney, Judith Joy Ross, John
Szarkowski, and Garry Winogrand. Several essays summon the words of
literary figures, including Virginia Woolf and Czeslaw Milosz. Adams's
voice is at once intimate and accessible, and is imbued with the
accumulated wisdom of a long career devoted to making and viewing art.
This eloquent and moving book champions art that fights against
disillusionment and despair.
Distributed for the Yale University Art Gallery
