Shelby Lee Adams (born October 24, 1950)Mark, Rebecca & Vaughan, Robert (2004) ''The South'', Greenwood Press, , p. 60-61 is an American environmental portrait

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

and artist best known for his images of Appalachian family life.

Life and career

Adams has photographed Appalachian families since the mid-1970s.Foerstner, Abigail (1994) "Appalachia observed: Shelby Lee Adams exhibit features portraits out of a living past", ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', September 25, 1994, p. 18 He had first encountered the poor families of the

Appalachian mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

as a child, travelling around the area with his uncle, who was a doctor.Vanishing Tribe
, ''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

'', September–October 1991, p. 52-55, retrieved 2010-10-18 His work has been published in three monographs: ''Appalachian Portraits'' (1993), ''Appalachian Legacy'' (1998), and ''Appalachian Lives'' (2003).

''The True Meaning of Pictures''

Adams was the subject of a documentary film by

Jennifer Baichwal Jennifer Baichwal is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, writer and producer. Biography Baichwal was born in Montreal, Quebec and raised in Victoria, British Columbia.

in 2002 - ''The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams's Appalachia.'' This was shown at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

, and at the Sundance Festival in 2003.Goddard, Peter (2002) "Photographer spies on the human drama: Shelby Lee Adams's Appalachian photographs capture undercurrent of pain", ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', August 31, 2002, p. H12.Harvey, Dennis (2003)
The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia
, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', February 2, 3003, retrieved 2010-10-18 The film critiques and defends Adams' method in photographing Appalachian people for his previously published books.

Awards

* 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship

Books by Adams

*''Appalachian Portraits.'' Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1993. ; . *''Appalachian Legacy: Photographs.'' Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998. ; . *''Appalachian Lives.'' Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2003. . *''Salt and Truth.'' Richmond, Va.: Candela, 2011. .

Permanent collections

* Art Institute of Chicago,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Museum of Contemporary Photography The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) was founded in 1976 by Columbia College Chicago as the successor to the Chicago Center for Contemporary Photography. The museum houses a permanent collection as well as the Midwest Photographers Projec ...

, ChicagoShelby Lee Adams
, Museum of Contemporary Photography. Accessed 3 August 2011. *

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP), at 79 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, consists of a museum for photography and visual culture and a school offering an array of educational courses and programming. ...

, New York CityShelby Lee Adams
, International Center of Photography. Accessed 3 August 2011. *Musée de l'Élysée, Lausanne *Museum of Modern Art, New York *Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts *National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa *San Francisco Museum of Modern Art *Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., Washington, DC *Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam *Time Life, Time Life Collection, Rockefeller Center, New York *Victoria and Albert Museum, London *Whitney Museum of American Art, New York *Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Murfreesboro

References

External links

Adams's website
* 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Shelby Lee 1950 births Living people Appalachian studies People from Perry County, Kentucky Photographers from Kentucky