Photographs of the American West are showcased in Yale Art Gallery exhibition

An exhibition of works by American photographer Robert Adams — regarded as one of the most influential chroniclers of the American West — is on view at the Yale University Art Gallery.

An exhibition of works by American photographer Robert Adams — regarded as one of the most influential chroniclers of the American West — is on view at the Yale University Art Gallery.

“Robert Adams: The Place We Live, a Retrospective Selection of Photographs” traces Adams’ 45-year career with over 200 gelatin silver prints drawn from the gallery’s master sets of the photographer’s work. According to the organizers, the exhibition “weaves together the diverse aspects of Adams’s work into a cohesive epic of the American experience in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.”

Each of the photographer’s major projects are represented, beginning with his early pictures of quiet buildings and monuments erected by settlers of Adams’ native Colorado, continuing with selections from his acclaimed series “The New West” and “Summer Nights,” and concluding with his most recent images of beaches and migratory birds in the Pacific Northwest. Adams’ photobooks have been installed in cases throughout the galleries, and a selection of his publications are available for viewing in a reading room.

Adams’ relationship with the Yale gallery began in 2000 when a series of photographs titled “What We Bought: The New World” was acquired and exhibited at the gallery in 2002. Two years later the gallery reached an agreement with Adams to archive a master set of his photographs, and a collaborative effort began to catalogue his work and organize this retrospective. In 2009 the gallery worked with Adams to revise and reissue three of his classic books — “denver,” “What We Bought,” and “Summer Nights, Walking.” And in the past year, the gallery has issued three new books of Adams’ recent photographs — “Sea Stories,” “This Day,” and “Skogen.”

The exhibition is on view through Oct. 28 at the Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St. at York Street. For museum hours and directions, call 203-432-0600 or visit the gallery’s website.

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