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.
Shelby Lee Adams | |
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Born | |
Alma mater | Cleveland Institute of Art, Massachusetts College of Art and Design |
Known for | Photography |
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[7]
- Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago[8]
- International Center of Photography, New York City[9]
- Musée de l'Élysée, Lausanne[10]
- Museum of Modern Art, New York[9]
- Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts[9][11]
- National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa[8]
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art[12]
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC[9][13]
- Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam[8]
- Time Life Collection, Rockefeller Center, New York[citation needed]
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London[14]
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York[9]
- Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro[15]