by Mark Sean Orr Eagle's Nest, '04 My introduction to the fine art photography of Kentucky born Shelby Lee Adams was a documentary film I watched on Ovation TV. "The True Meaning of Pictures" (directed by Jennifer Baichwal) shocked, saddened and amazed me. Here were photographs of modest people living in small isolated houses in the hills (hollers) of eastern Kentucky. People who appeared to be living in the past. Their homes were diminutive with none of the luxuries that we take for granted today. Walls were covered (papered) with actual newspapers and store advertisements...decor included plastic flowers, pictures of Jesus and The Last Supper and family photos. The photos on the wall, not just your ordinary school pictures and family portraits of mom, dad and children They showed the tired and lined faces of grandparents and even great grandparents who watched over these families from old wooden frames placed haphazardly, but lovingly throughout these homes. The people in this place had a real and deep-rooted connection to the past. Eagle's Nest, '08 Stories my grandmother told me of growing up in central Indiana in the early 1900's quickly came to mind. Her grandfather brought his family from Kentucky to Indiana in the late 1800's to find work. Jesse Thompson, her grandfather was born in Estill County, Kentucky in 1818. It seemed the people that Adams was photographing lived much the same as my grandmothers early years were lived as she had described them to me. It was a hard life and men, women and children worked long hours..."from can see to can't see" as my grandmother described it. Vanessa, Oct.'07 This guy Adams, I thought, was a time traveler.....who could step back and forth between the comfortable city life in Pittsfield, Massachusetts where he resides in the winter months to the past, in the mountains of Appalachia and fit right in at either place. In fact he had never gone far from his Appalachian home. Pittsfield is no larger than Hazard, Ky. and is near the Appalachian Trail. The trail runs through the county he lives in..... Berkshire Co. Adams drives 860 miles to Ky., mostly along that trail. There is much potential in the Appalachian area, they just haven't been given a fair shake. In 1999 Bill Clinton visited Tyner, Kentucky where he made the following statement: "I'm here to make a simple point. This is the time to bring more jobs and investment to parts of the country that have not participated in this time of prosperity. Any work that can be done by anybody in America can be done in Appalachia". Since 1974 Adams has worked with a 4x5 view camera, a large camera mounted on a tripod that he makes Polaroid's with, to share with his people immediately as he photographs. It is a formal manner of working, but helps people become more comfortable right away as they see how they look and what is included within the picture. When Adams returns from each extended visit he gives out pictures to everyone from each previous visit. Most portrait photographers give their subjects a prop or put them in a setting that artificially represents the subject's interest and life. In Adam's photos we are seeing the real people in their natural surroundings doing what they do and what their families have done for generations. The butchering of hogs, catfish hanging on the barn door waiting to be cleaned, families gathered in the sitting room playing music and telling stories.... all integral parts of these people's lives. Pictures they like. Tammy with Catfish, '03 I decided to check this photographer out..the man whom one of his subjects referred to as "the picture man".....first online on various websites where I found this statement by Adams (on his website): When I began my photography in the 70’s I thought sharing the photographs of the people who were impaired and less fortunate would communicate best the need to awaken compassion and the love of humanity everywhere. At that age, I wanted to impact the fortunate and distant - into experiencing these faces finding their essential deeper value because I’d grown up seeing cold indifference and cruel hypocrosy and wanted change. More importantly, I had been moved and accepted with love by these children from the heads of the hollers. If I could experience them with love so could others. This was my beginning. Shelby Lee Adams Appalachia today is mixed economically, with millionaires from the coal industry living in the same area. Within this culture now populated with Wal Marts, a modern hospital, a local community college, mansions on the hill tops, four lane highways, fast food restaurants, people driving Hummer's, Shelby drives to the head of the hollers to photograph something else, what is disappearing, but still exists throughout. Robbie and Tyler on Wrecker, '03 Also on Adams website is this description of why he is driven to photograph the people of Appalachia: It is the total inclusive spirit of the mountaineer living in the hollers that motivates and interests me. The visual representation of this culture has never been witnessed from inside. I don’t deny nor do I see poverty as a focus in my work; once the poverty filter is removed a different world emerges. The culture is multi-layered in expressing the fullness of life. Mountain people are more accepting of diverse representations of themselves than the viewer might imagine because they know themselves and are spiritually self-sufficient. Shelby Lee Adams Shithead the Pony and the Noble Family, '03 This last statement is particularly telling. Adams does want to show the rest of the world the disparaging conditions these people live in, but he also wants to show their culture. They are proud, hard-working people who are deeply devoted to family, religion, music and legacy. The irony is that I think we who are looking in on their world are slightly envious of their close-knit families and focus on the important things in life. The dynamics of the American family have changed dramatically over the last century. No longer do most families sit down at the supper table every evening, go to church on Sundays, gather on the front porch to play music and spend most of their daily lives together. It's getting rarer all the time to see generations of families living under the same roof or right next door to each other. This part of their culture is a part of ours that has become lost. I quickly decided that regardless of how Adams was able to get the masterful and poignant shots of the people of Appalachia..... it mattered not. What he felt and what came through in film was very real and very honest. I was beginning to get a real grasp of what Adams was trying to accomplish with his photographs and my admiration and respect was growing for him and his work. James and Clapper, ' 06 On Adams' website I found an email address...so I wrote to him thinking how cool it would be to hear his thoughts and ask him some questions...not really expecting an answer from him at all. I wrote the first email in April of 2010...just a brief message telling him how much I enjoyed his work and would he maybe do an interview at some point. I received a reply the next morning with the following: Mark, "Consider this an open door" ...and so I did. We exchanged contact information, more emails and Adams invited me to a party in Hazard, Kentucky to celebrate his just announced 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship. I was unable to make it to the party but was able to watch a video tape made of the festivities. In getting to know Adams through our correspondence, I find him to be a caring and honest man and a great artist. Girls in Onion Patch, '04 More recently I received word from Adams that he had made "the cover" (and a lengthy interview by photographer and journalist Renee' Jacobs) for the first issue of the new year (March, 2011 Issue 81) in B&W Magazine.....quite an honor! In the Black & White Magazine article "Portraits from Appalachia", Jacobs travels to Kentucky and speaks in depth with Adams about his childhood, schooling, family and roots in Appalachia. There's an especially wonderful comment in the article when Jacobs is interviewing Rachel Riddle, a long time friend of Adams and one who he has photographed for 28 years. Riddle, speaking of Shelby's support over the years points out:"He's not trying to make something that it aint. (He) makes it come out just like it ought to be. I really appreciate everything he's ever done for me. He's like family. He's always been that way. One of these days, I'll be part of history. Long after I'm gone, the photographs will still be here".
published an article about Adams and his photography in March of 2010 titled "Capturing Appalachia's 'Mountain People'". The Smithsonian article focused on one of Adams most famous photos "Home Funeral". The photo was taken in 1990 at the funeral (country wake) of the grandmother of Esther Renee Adams (nicknamed Nay Bug), named after her grandmother. The wake held in the home lasted for days in 1990. Adams returned 18 years after taking the photo and visited with the family. Walter Holbrook, son of the deceased woman said about the photograph "Home Funeral is “something I can show my kids and maybe later on they can save to show their kids what kind of family they had”. "Home Funeral" 1990 That brings us to now......and this piece I'm writing for my website. I have, over the last year...watched all the videos and read all the information I could find about Adams and have decided that my initial perceptions about Adams and his work were correct. Adams is a great photographer, a kind and caring man and his love of his craft and of his subjects is genuine. He has a way of making one feel comfortable so that they open up and tell their life stories as evidenced by the way they let him into their lives in even the most intimate and private moments. People feel comfortable and unguarded when talking with Adams.....another example is this statement made by subject Berthie Napier in 1992 who told Adams about her family. Napier speaks with Adams like he is an old and trusted friend...and he is that. Berthie Napier: "Had sixteen children in my family-you wouldn't believe that, would you! Eight dead and eight livin'! Lord, they drank and get out and get killed, and everything. You know, you can't put sense on 'em. But when they was small, they mind me good, till they got to be twenty-two or twenty-three. Now, Lord have mercy!" Berthie With Pipe and John, '92 On Shelby's website you'll find these words of wisdom about "truth" by Cormac McCarthy which I feel pretty much explain away any notion of Adam's photos not being "real" : “The Stories get past on and the truth gets passed over. As the sayin goes. Which I reckon some would take as meanin that the truth cant compete. But I don’t believe that. I think that when the lies are told and forgotten the truth will be there yet. It don’t move about from place to place and it dont change from time to time. You cant corrupt it any more than you can salt salt. You cant corrupt it because that’s what it is. It’s the thing you’ re talking about. I’ve heard it compared to the rock-maybe in the bible-and I wouldn’t disagree with that. But it’ll be here even when the rock is gone.” To the reader: The difference between Shelby Lee Adams and his critics is that Shelby is at home with the people of Appalachia. He knows them and they know him. There is a comfort level there...and a trust that's born of friendship. Adams relates to his subjects moreso than most photographers. He has sat down at the supper table of his friends, they have entertained him with their wonderful music, he shoots the breeze with them on slanted porches just outside their humble homes and he has even attended family funerals. These families have come to know him and his gentle nature and they welcome his visits. Adams has been welcomed into each home and the community whereas most photographers would not have been. I think this is the problem that some other photographers ...and critics have with Adams. Many photographers who have tried to capture this small population of proud Appalachian families have been intrusive...voyeurs who shoot from a distance ... geographically and emotionally. Were they to arrive at the home of these people...they would more than likely be invited to leave upon their arrival. Shelby has an "in" .... because of his love and concern for the people of Appalachia and because he is "one of them". He has the opportunity, and the task of documenting their lives and struggles so that the world may come to know them....not as uneducated and so different from us...but as real, honest, hardworking, hard-living people. They are us at our most stripped down level. I have a real fondness for these wonderful people. I encourage anyone interested in the people of Appalachia and the great photography of Shelby Adams to check out his work. His latest book "Appalachian Lives" is currently available. Also check out his website, videos and the documentary "The True Meaning Pictures". In this documentary you will get to follow Adams as he visits the various families of Appalachia..... The Jacobs and Collins Boys, 2003 Dillon, Oct. '07 Standing in front of Great Grandfathers Civil War saddle. Mallie, Ky Giving back.....
has the dedicated long term support of a loving partner who's father was also from Hazard, KY. He lectures and teaches, nationally and Internationally conducting photography workshops instructing students in how to approach people, improve their communication skills with others and technically he teaches lighting, compositional balance and other technical photograph skills. Within the professional photography and art world, everyone knows documentary work is done as a labor of love, not for financial gain. That said....Adams does not forget the people of Appalachia when he goes back home to Massachusetts. He helps them out in many ways from having a well drilled so they can have clean water, to a septic tank being installed, metal roofing for a home for a church, a new stove or refrigerator, to providing gas money for hospital visits that are often great distances away. As Adams says: "It's personal between my subjects and me, as is any real friendship. I always wish I could do more". http://shelby-lee-adams.blogspot.com/ As a final summation, we all need to step back from the issues that concern us and see that we support each other better, acknowledging where many of us come from - accepting instead of blaming. From my experience this is what the "Holler Dweller's" have to teach us. Adam's friend and photo subject Sherman Jacobs gets the last word:
They don’t know what it is to live a poor person’s life. People enjoys livin from day to day, makin it on their own, not out here crookin somebody or stealin something to make it; just makin it, surviving on their own. That’s the way Kentucky people are. We just enjoy doin it, because it’s everyday things. If I go out here today and make enough to survive to the next day, I’m tickled to death. Long, as I’ve got dinner on the table for my family. If I tell a man something, I tell the truth. I don’t lie." Sherman Jacobs October '07 Shelby Adams Photo by Bill Schwab "Shelby Lee Adams - Appalachian 'Picture Man'". by Mark Sean Or 1/11/11 |
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| Music is "A Little Piece of my Heart" by Simon Husberg |
This is a wonderful tribute to Shelby, his people and to the beautiful work they make together.
~Curt Miller
Very nice article, Mark..I actually jotted this book title down a few months ago and I intend to get it..My
family has alot of history in Appalachia..My Mom was a 'West Virginia' girl :) .."
~Kim Little
These are the homes and faces of the people I grew up around. They are the faces of my grandparents
and uncles, aunts, cousins, in-laws. This world is drifting away and being populated by pasty faced walmart
shoppers all geared up to be like everyone else...sort of franchized people, all the same...
~JD
Mark...You have presented a wonderful journey both in words and photos through an area and people
often forgotten and over looked. I could not stop once I began to travel through this article. It is an
emotional journey and you have presented it quite eloqently. The flow was really done quite well. Well done
my friend...there is nothing you cannot do in the arts if you put your mind to it. By the way I love your entry
in the contest and I believe this is an art form often overlooked to...photograpy is an art. I am very
impressed with this article...thanks so much for sharing.
~Joanne Beebe
When I look at his photographs, I feel I'm part of the photograph.I want to be part of them.
Nobody gets closer to people than Shelby Lee Adams. He knows humanity like not many are aware of in
the USA. He introduced me to his world and his people are part of me now. I can't forget. Shelby Lee
Adams, you are a humble and compassionate Listener of Life.
~Sincerely, Dominique Cheyns
Shelby is a beloved friend and a inspiration to me. Coming from Ohio,
I spent my child hood among folks who had left Kentucky to find a better life.
Sometimes they did; sometimes they didn't. Being African American, I learned later that while poorer than I,
they enjoyed privileges I could never experience back then. Nevertheless, I counted among these people
some loyal friends, caring neighbors, and one memorable love.
Having family from the rural south, I recognize that the line between these folks and some of
mine is very fine. I have been to a home funeral. I have swept a sandy yard with a brush broom.
Thank you Shelby, and thank you Mark Orr.
~Gwen Rosemond
"WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME TO THE MOUNTAINS!!! OUR
HOMES ARE ALL ALWAYS OPEN FOR YOU WHEN YOU DECIDE TO RETURN HERE..."
~Jennifer Baker
"Not too far from where my in-laws live! Correct-these are stark and stunning photos! Great area to take
pictures and realize their lifestyle."
~Pamela Lynn Green
I am not from the US and we sure have places like that. I am in awe of their faces, the skin, their wrinkles
remind me of the earth lands surface. Sometimes we look out to third world countries ( whatever that
means) but it's happening right here, images of New Orleans.....It's going on everywhere.
~Dave McKenzie
Very interesting. I have appreciated your work for years.
~Andrzej Maciejewski
THANK YOU SHELBY SO MUCH FOR BRINGING BACK SUCH GOOD MEMORIES OF THE PEOPLE AND
PLACES OF MY HOME STATE.
~Betty Kelly
Been a fan for a long time. Trust is a hard thing to come by, and Mr. Adams has earned in spades.
Thomas W. Miller
Fantastic Shelby! I love your work as I've said before ... I can't speak for Kentuckians as I've never visited
the US but what I do feel from your photos is that there is no sense of 'condescension' of these folk more a
sense of showing their dignity/pride/warmth and humour ~ poverty is never a good thing and deserves to
be documented and highlighted especially when it exists in the wealthiest countries but people are always
much more than their circumstances and that shines out through your photos.
~Marysia Wojtaszek
Those 4 boys are so cool. this is one fine essay, i dream of being that good.
~John Essmaker (Ovation Artist and Community Leader).
Great job on a fantastic artist Mark!!!!!!
~Rich (rrockhopper) Ovation Community Artist.
This documentary beautifuly captures in word and photography the wonderful spirit of the people in the
mountains. A lovely article about real beauty in humanity. That Universal truth never fades. Thanks Shelby
and Mark.
~WJ
Mark, this is wonderful writing. I read it with the utmost interest. Shelby is one of the finest photographers of
our times. His art is a great and loving act of compassion and desire to documenting the real people's lives.
I love his art and I understand it. Great work!
~Folkartanna
Wonderful read Mark. You have become a tour de force in your own right. Bravo!
~Your Friend Stuart
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Video clip of Shelby Lee Adams visiting the Napier family in 1989, courtesy
of Ovation TV.
of Ovation TV.
Update:
Adam's 4th book, Salt & Truth was published in October of 2011 by Candela
Books.
Adam's 4th book, Salt & Truth was published in October of 2011 by Candela
Books.
