The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia

Shelby Lee Adams has been taking pictures of poor subsistence farmer families in rural Appalachia for around 30 years. This documentary shows Adams interacting with the family members and organizing the photo taking. It examines their lives and the effects of coal mining as well as other things over the years.

It's a question of realism or constructed art by the photographer artist. It's a matter of the eye of the beholder or the intent of the camera. Are the poor being taken advantage of? Is it condescending to ask? Do they understand the images they project? What is right and what is wrong? The movie asks a lot of questions and lets the audience decides. It makes the academic arguments about art come alive.

I loved the way this movie presented the controversy over Adams photographs by allowing the different perspectives to state their positions and impressions without interruption nor extraneous commentary. The film makers camera seems to pierce the photographs and show the context, which the still camera obscures. Children with facial disfigurements are photographed by Adams and frankly in these photos, they are uncomfortable to look at. But in this documentary, the subjects are seen playing and interacting with their family and their playful demeanour and the acceptance that they have from their family makes you not seem them as objects of pity. Despite this, it should be noted that this is not a hatchet job on Mr. Adams, and he is clearly given his space to speak and his arguments are valid and he is certainly not demonized. This is the genius of this movie; it moves from a specific example of possible misrepresentation of a group to analyze the relationship of artists and their subject. Fantastically subtle.

This film looks at the photographer Shelby Lee Adams and his Kentucky holler neighbors. The obvious comparison is to Walker Evans and the pictures he took for Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. There, the grinding poverty was clear and unambiguous; barefoot sharecroppers with only a broken-down bed and a couple of chairs that they had to make themselves. Evans was accused of manipulating his images, although how you can make dirt-poor look even poorer is beyond my understanding.

Shelby Adams is charged with stage-managing his scenes of mountain-gorge desperation. It is true that the hog-butchering scene was brought about by Adams's planning, but little else could have been arranged. Certainly the snake-handling is real; you see the man in hospital with his arm swelled up to watermelon size. The two dwarfs, both with mental handicaps, are probably the result of incest, but this theme is treated very gingerly indeed. If you want to meet the people who sat for great photos like Brothers Praying, Hooterville, Kentucky and The Kiss, this is a great opportunity.

Very interesting documentary about Appalachian photographer Shelby Lee Adams, and the ongoing debate as to whether his photos are too "faked" or staged, and whether they reinforce stereotypes about Appalachia and its people.

Or whether they use valid techniques to reveal deep insight into a time, place, and way of life.

Whatever your philosophy about the "truth" of photos, there is no arguing that many of the images are striking and powerful indeed.

Yet somehow the film stays just a touch too much on the surface. While seeing the worlds of religious snake handlers, etc is fascinating, and some of the intellectual arguments about Shelby"s work are interesting (although tilted towards Shelby by the choice of supercilious, obnoxious commentators on the critical side), the documentary never feels quite as deep or as interesting as the photos themselves.

Yet, all my carping aside, this is strong and well worth seeing on balance, especially if you have any interest in photography, the Appalachian world or the ever ongoing debate on what is "truth" in art.

I found this film to be very interesting. Adam's, who is usually the one doing the representing, is here being documented. Does true objectivity exist?

Adam's work is incredible, his Appalachian subjects are interesting and diverse, and I enjoyed seeing the artist at work in the film. This film considers aspects of artist, subject and critical response. It also brings to light the imprint that art photography and film create in our conscious.