Last January we kicked off the new year with a photography show that examined the New Mexico cultural landscape, New Mexico Vernacular: Architectural Portraits by Robert Christensen. This year, we're also with photography: Power: New Works by David Emitt Adams. Both photographers explore overlooked but critical elements of our cultural landscape, but their focus and approach is decidedly different. Whereas Christensen highlights the gas stations, grocery stores, and other seemingly mundane structures that define everyday life, Arizona-based photographer David Emitt Adams explores the fuel that powers that life: oil.
Adams explores the
intersections between landscape and culture through the use of historical photographic
processes. Printing his images on discarded cans, scrap metal, and other
detritus he collects from the landscapes he photographs, he emphasizes the
close relationship between civilization and the natural environment.
The history of photography deeply informs Adams’
artistic practice, particularly in his use of wet collodion tintype, a
technique developed in the nineteenth century. Unlike silver gelatin, albumen printing,
and other methods that involve developing prints from negatives, tintypes are
unique works made in-camera by creating a direct positive on a thin sheet of
metal coated with a light-sensitive, dark lacquer or enamel. Adams’ work examines the
transformation of place through human intervention, particularly the Southwest
within the last two centuries, stating that, “I began to see that the Arizona desert was far
different from the scenery once photographed by Timothy O’Sullivan in the 1860s.
I have explored this landscape with an awareness of the photographers who have
come before me, and this awareness has led me to pay close attention to the
traces left behind by others.”
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| from Conversations with History, ongoing |
as well as see some o
f his work in person. What stood out for me was a new series that Adams and I both thought would be well-received in Roswell, given its history with the oil industry: Power. Over the next two years, we maintained contact and followed the development of the project, eventually turning it into this exhibition.
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| Navajo Refinery, Artesia, New Mexico No. 2, 2015, wet plate collodion tintype on 55-gallon steel drum lid, 23/5" diameter. Courtesy of the Artist. |
In Power, Adams
turns his photographic gaze to the oil industry, an indelible component of
American life. From the decline of the whaling industry to the development of
the West, petroleum has played a critical role in our history since the
nineteenth century, and continues to shape politics, international relations,
and technological advancements. In addition to its role as
a primary energy and heating source, oil plays a vital part in contemporary
material culture by appearing as a key ingredient in hundreds of products
ranging from toothpaste to electronics. It has defined the
economic life cycles of numerous American businesses and communities through
periodic booms and busts, and indirectly shapes our culture through its impact
on museums and other educational centers, with many institutions deriving a
substantial portion of their philanthropic support from petroleum-based
industries.
Oil also remains one of the most contentious social, political, and
environmental issues of our time, shaping discussions on climate change,
community safety, and energy independence. With its multifaceted influence on
history and society, oil is the lubricant of American life, the fuel that
powers our lifestyles, political views, and world image.
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| Signal Hill No. 3, Los Angeles, California, 2015, wet plate collodion tintype on 55-gallon steel drum lid, 23/5" diameter. Courtesy of the Artist. |
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| Scattergood Generating Station, El Segundo, California, 2015, wet plate collodion tintype on 55-gallon steel drum lid, 23/5" diameter. Courtesy of the Artist. | | |
Traveling through the western and southern United
States, Adams has photographed refineries in New Mexico, California,
Mississippi, Texas, and Arizona, capturing the industrial architecture that
sustains contemporary life. Using a mobile darkroom, he exposes his photographs
directly onto oil drum lids, enhancing the tactile quality of his work. Through this practice, Adams
transforms these discarded objects into meditations on the oil industry. Photographed
at a distance, the refineries featured in
Power appear familiar and unfamiliar, presented as both mundane structures,
and almost mysterious power generators. Distinguished by their sepia-toned
palettes, these images recall the photographic landscape tradition of the
nineteenth century, while details such as automobiles firmly situate these
works in the present. Emulsion splotches,
openings on the lids, and repoussé letters and numbers underscore the physical presence
of the drums themselves, reminding viewers that these objects contained crude
oil before becoming tintypes. Simultaneously photographic and sculptural, Power converses with both the past and
present, underscoring the profound influence of oil through time.
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| Offshore, Pascagoula, Mississippi, 2015, wet plate collodion tintype on 55-gallon steel drum lid, 23/5" diameter. Courtesy of the Artist. |
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| Port of Los Angeles No. 2, San Pedro, California, 2015, wet plate collodion tintype on 55-gallon steel drum lid, 23/5" diameter. Courtesy of the Artist. |
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| Arizona Public Service, Tempe, AZ, 2015, wet plate collodion tintype on 55-gallon steel drum lid, 23/5" diameter. Courtesy of the Artist. |
Ultimately, visitors are going to infer their own conclusions from their work, depending on their opinions and experiences. Some might see an homage to the petroleum industry, given oil's importance to so many Southwest communities. Others might see a criticism of it, particularly in light of Standing Rock and other recent events. Still others might focus on something else altogether, whether it's the history of photography or the American landscape tradition. Great art should support a variety of interpretations and provoke a range of questions; Power is no exception. As a multi-faceted portrait of American oil, it represents both an exploration of
the industry as it appears in the twenty-first century, and a consideration of
its historical legacy. It underscores
oil’s enduring presence, for better or worse, in the American cultural landscape.
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| Navajo Refinery, Artesia, New Mexico, 2015, wet plate collodion tintype on 55-gallon steel drum lid, 23/5" diameter. Courtesy of the Artist. |
Martha A.
Sandweiss, “Undecisive Moments: The Narrative Tradition in Western
Photography,” in Photography in
Nineteenth-Century America, ed. Martha A. Sandweiss (Fort Worth and New
York: Amon Carter Museum and Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991), 99-129.
Adams explores the
intersections between landscape and culture through the use of historical photographic
processes. Printing his images on discarded cans, scrap metal, and other
detritus he collects from the landscapes he photographs, he emphasizes the
close relationship between civilization and the natural environment. 
Woodbury, Interesting. In Las Cruces there is one building with round windows, almost like a ship. I have not as of yet found another similar. -DAC
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