Robert Adams

Robert Adams was born in New Jersey in 1937, and moved to Colorado as a teenager. Adams was a professor of English literature for several years before turning his full attention to photography in the mid 1970s. His work is largely concerned with moments of regional transition: the suburbanization of Denver, a changing Los Angeles of the 1970s and 1980s, and the clear-cutting in Oregon in the 1990s. His many books, well-known to those concerned with the American Landscape, include The New West, From the Missouri West, Summer Nights, Los Angeles Spring, To Make It Home, Listening to the River, West From the Columbia, What We Bought, Notes for Friends, California, Summer Nights, Walking, Gone?, What Can We Believe Where? and The Place We Live. 
from: http://fraenkelgallery.com/artists/robert-adams

From his series, "The New West"

Here he chose a square format. I like shooting in square format as it allows me to concentrate on the subject. I like using the hasselblad 500 series for their tactile feel and especially that old 80mm 2.8 where you pull the tab down to change your settings. It feels so rugged and smooth to use, the only way I would improve them is have a better focusing screen and have a wee built in light meter. However I really like that the camera is fully mechanical. I go off on a tangent, my point about square format, which I have nearly only experienced with the hasselblads, is that unlike a rectangle format where I think about how do I frame this scene, horizontal or vertical? With square format I can really focus on the scene and what I am trying to say with a photo, it stops me thinking but makes me think.

I think by choosing to only work in black and white, Robert Adams has let the viewer focus on the subject of his photos, you aren't distracted by colour and colour cant give any unwanted connotations. It has allowed his work to be focused and consistent. We see only what we need to see, the subjects exactly as they are.