Shelby Lee Adams
![](../I/m/Shelby_Lee_Adams.jpg)
Shelby Lee Adams (born October 24, 1950)[1] is an American environmental portrait photographer and artist best known for his images of Appalachian family life.
Life and career
Adams has photographed Appalachian families since the mid-1970s.[2] He had first encountered the poor families of the Appalachian mountains as a child, travelling around the area with his uncle, who was a doctor.[3] 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 in 2002 - The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams's Appalachia. This was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival, and at the Sundance Festival in 2003.[4][5] The film critiques and defends Adams' method in photographing Appalachian people for his previously published books.
Awards
Books by Adams
- Appalachian Portraits. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1993. ISBN 0-87805-646-7; ISBN 0-87805-667-X.
- Appalachian Legacy: Photographs. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998. ISBN 1-57806-048-6; ISBN 1-57806-049-4.
- Appalachian Lives. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2003. ISBN 1-57806-540-2.
- Salt and Truth. Richmond, Va.: Candela, 2011. ISBN 0-9845739-1-7.
Permanent collections
- Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago[6]
- Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago[7]
- International Center of Photography, New York City[8]
- Musée de l'Élysée, Lausanne[9]
- Museum of Modern Art, New York[8]
- Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts[8][10]
- National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa[7]
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art[11]
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC[8][12]
- Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam[7]
- Time Life Collection, Rockefeller Center, New York
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London[13]
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York[8]
- Middle Tennessee State University, [[Murfreesboro<ref>http://www.dnj.com/story/news/2016/11/04/photographer-shelby-lee-adams-create-mtsu-archive-appalachian-images/93255292/</ref>]]
References
- ↑ Mark, Rebecca & Vaughan, Robert (2004) The South, Greenwood Press, ISBN 978-0-313-32734-6, p. 60-61
- ↑ Foerstner, Abigail (1994) "Appalachia observed: Shelby Lee Adams exhibit features portraits out of a living past", Chicago Tribune, September 25, 1994, p. 18
- ↑ "Vanishing Tribe", Mother Jones, Sept-Oct 1991, p. 52-55, retrieved 2010-10-18
- ↑ Goddard, Peter (2002) "Photographer spies on the human drama: Shelby Lee Adams's Appalachian photographs capture undercurrent of pain", Toronto Star, August 31, 2002, p. H12.
- ↑ Harvey, Dennis (2003) "The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia", Variety, February 2, 3003, retrieved 2010-10-18
- ↑ "The Home Funeral, 1990", catalogue entry, Art Institute of Chicago. Accessed 3 August 2011.
- 1 2 3 "Shelby Lee Adams", Museum of Contemporary Photography. Accessed 3 August 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Shelby Lee Adams, International Center of Photography. Accessed 3 August 2011.
- ↑ "The collection", Musée de l'Élysée. Accessed 3 August 2011.
- ↑ Catalogue search for "Shelby Lee Adams", Harvard Art Museums. Accessed 3 August 2011.
- ↑ "Works by Shelby Lee Adams", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Accessed 3 August 2011.
- ↑ Results of a search of the collection, 3 August 2011.
- ↑ "Berthie Napier with Pipe and John", catalogue entry, Victoria and Albert Museum. Accessed 3 August 2011.
External links
- Adams's website
- The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia at the Internet Movie Database 2002.