"Brandon & Friends, 99"
Excerpts from text.
Shelby Lee Adams - Artist Statement – April 14, 2022
“From the Heads of the Hollers.”
Every summer and sometimes fall, traveling through the mountains of Kentucky and taking photographs, I am able to renew and relive my childhood. I regain my southern mountain accent and approach people with openness, fascination, and respect, and I am treated with respect. My psychic antenna becomes sharpened and acutely receptive. I love these people. Perhaps that is it, plain and simple. I respond to the beauty of a hardened face with many scars, the deeply etched lines and flickers of sweat containing bright spots of sunlight. The eyes of my subjects reveal a kindness and curiosity, and their acceptance of me is gratifying.
For me, this is a rejuvenation of the spirit of times past, and I am better for the experience each time it happens. These portraits are, in a way, self-portraits that represent a long autobiographical exploration of creativity, imagination, vision and salvation. My greatest fear as a photographer is to look into the eyes of a subject and not see my own reflection.
I wrote this in Appalachian Portraits (1993). Now, at the age of 72 I'm editing and organizing my archive of unpublished black and white prints from 1974 to 2010. It is my goal to find and print all images that speak to me and the people I've photographed. If I do not print the images myself during my life time, those images are never to be made.
SLA
 |
| "Walter and Goldie May," June 2023 Goldie holding, "From the Heads of the Hollers" Goldie May holding book open to her sister's [Shirley] and nephew's [Billy Ray's] photo. |
For those interested in the behind the scene production of, “From the Heads of the Hollers,” here are a few photos with text to explain who everyone is. One can see the equipment necessary to make a large portfolio book. We went to Verona, Italy to work with one of the finest black and white printers in Europe, EBS.
Pulling proofs from press.
Proofs
While our book was being printed Helmont Newton's new book was also being printed on a near by press. The photo above shows the test sheets from both projects.
The finished book showing the entire production now waiting to be cut, trimmed, and bound.
Verona
 |
Verona |
KY. Governor Beshear has established the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund to assist those impacted by the floods and the severe weather system beginning July 26, 2022. All donations to the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund are tax-deductible and donors will receive a receipt for tax purposes after donating. If you wish to donate to the Flood Relief Fund, Google Governor's Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund. The last photo I had taken for this book was made in 2010, yet several of my friends and subjects suffered tremendous losses because of this flood the end of July 2022. One couple I knew personally and had photographed many times, their home washed away with them inside and they drowned. We can all help a little.
Sept. 1, 2023
From the beginning repeating visits changed my perspective in how I saw my work and people. Over time, I perceived different characteristics in my subjects and myself. I felt we were working in more of a collaboration. My subjects gave more of themselves in making their own images because they saw the previous sessions [Polaroids & prints] and that inspired their ideas about how and where to be photographed a new. With my guiding the tools - we made pictures more as equals.
SLA
What Can One Do?
Giving offers you a purpose. When away from the mountains, making phone calls back home to families you know is greatly appreciated, reminding folks they are not forgotten. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” says Gandhi. Doing for others is an art in itself.
You can send surprise holiday presents. Gifts like toys for children, and items folks can’t afford are greatly welcomed. Mailing canned hams, fruit cakes and peppermint sticks for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners are practical. Giving stimulates social connection.
You can send flowers to a funeral, when the family can’t afford any and you can help buy a tombstone for the deceased when the time is right helping make payments. When there, I’m often asked to fill out government forms for families in need, because they can’t and are to embarrassed to ask social workers. Repeat visits opens up folks in communities to share more of what is their reality. You can find and support a rural mountain church group that knows its community and distributes goods to those in need. You can mail books to local families and libraries.
If you observe or learn of needed staples, you can meet that need. You can buy a new or used stove, and have it delivered so a family can prepare hot meals. Buying and giving a refrigerator helps sustain a family, even though they say, “You don’t have to do that.” When visiting you can bring a family a bag of groceries, but to stay and have a meal with them means more than words can describe. These basic rituals are vital to build understanding.
Giving out my photographs and photo books is something I have always done. Many visitors to our mountains over the years have promised they will send photos, but never do. The people I photograph enjoy hanging my pictures in their homes with other family photos and this I find rewarding. Sharing with others creates emotional well-being on all sides overcoming and dissolving stereotypes. When portraits are made with people openly participating and communicating there is a more peaceful and relaxed comradery created where all contribute. I‘m trying to bridge and bring both sides together.
SLA
_____________________________________
Kentucky Governors Flood Relief Program.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.