Appalachia photographer Shelby Lee Adams to visit Miami Hamilton for lecture, presentation

September 29, 2006

                               

Shelby Lee Adams, “the picture man” whose compelling photographs of Modern Appalachia continue to receive increasing national and international acclaim, will deliver a lecture and presentation at 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 19, in Parrish Auditorium on the Hamilton campus of Miami University.

Adams has been making black-and-white photographs with his people in Appalachia for more than three decades. He was born in Perry County and raised in Letcher County, both in Eastern Kentucky. As an art student in Cleveland, Ohio, Adams was embarrassed by other people’s perception of his Appalachian heritage.

These days, the artist spends two or three months each summer in his native Eastern Kentucky, visiting people and taking photographs of his proud heritage. His subjects are mainly friends and relatives who live deep in the heart of Appalachia. He lives among his subjects for long periods at a time while photographing them at work, at play, and at their leisure.

The title of his lecture and presentation is “My Appalachian Mirrors.” Adams’ work is contained in three books: Appalachian Lives (2003), Appalachian Legacy (1998) and Appalachian Portraits (1993).

In his most recent book, Appalachian Lives, Adams focuses on families who embrace the media culture and are less likely to live off the land. They favor cable television, identifiable brand names and advertising logos, within the confines of a region that progress has left behind.

“My work has been an artist’s search for a deeper understanding of my heritage and myself, using photography as a medium and the Appalachian people as collaborators with their own desires to communicate,” Adams said.

“I hope my photographs confront viewers, reminding them of their own vulnerability and humanity. I hope, too, that viewers will see in these photographs something of the abiding strength, resourcefulness and dignity of the mountain people,” he said.

Shelby Lee Adams’ photographs of his native Appalachia have been exhibited nationally and internationally. His work is included in many private and museum collections.

Adams was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1978 and again in 1992. He now resides in Massachusetts.