I nominate Shelby Lee Adams

Possibly the greatest living photographer in America

One can only stand back and admire Shelby Lee Adams and his commitment to a full and honest presentation of his people from the hollers of Eastern Kentucky’s Appalachian Mountains.

For nearly 50 years, Mr. Adams has been photographing with a large format 4”x5” camera. With a heavy tripod, lights and repeated visits he has turned his photography and his sitters into close friends, who look forward to his visits.

Shelby Lee Adams: Mary, 1989

I think of Shelby Lee Adams as a contextual portraitist. A photographer who includes enough circumstance and environmental content to not only portray the image of the person, but who also includes references to where the sitter comes from and what they are about. I could perhaps refer to this as the antithesis of the Irving Penn Worlds in a Small Room photographs. Where Penn photographed in his mobile studio against a neutral background to create continuity despite geography, Shelby Lee Adams works hard to include the references around the sitter to help the viewer better understand the subject of his photographs.

Shelby Lee Adams: The Collins Couple, 1987

I understand that Adams walked and drove with his uncle, a retired physician, who after a year of retirement in Florida came back to Kentucky and in a WWII Willy’s Jeep did many years of house calls in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Eastern Kentucky. Often riding with his uncle, Adams got to know the community and earned the trust of the many families he met. In time, this familiarity gave him permission to return with his heavy and cumbersome camera, tripod and lights.

The photographs that Mr. Adams makes are of course anchored in a long tradition of great photographers. The list is long and you can no doubt come up with everyone from Disfarmer, to Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and so forth, but when you take the time to study Adams’ work, you realize that he is different.

Shelby Lee Adams: Brice and Crow on Porch, 1992

Adams’ sitters have a glow in their eyes, an affection that comes across only when the sitter is a close friend, beyond just being a subject. Adams has spent many, many hours with these families, has shared meals, drunk good home made sour mash and enjoyed the company of these largely forgotten people that somehow the American Dream left at the doorstep.

Proud, free and honest, often grounded in a strong Christian faith, the people of Shelby Lee Adams' photographs come to life in a way that can only happen when you can feel an intimacy between the person with the button and the person in front of the lens. Adams says: "I can't emphasize enough how vital a non-judgmental eye and sincere recognition is.... Kindness and empathy contribute on this journey. "

Shelby Lee Adams: Brothers Praying, 1993

Shelby Lee Adams is also a master printer. His work comes across in beautifully toned prints on paper that is the best available. I am sure, he would have dreamed of having some of the papers that were available 90, or more years ago. There is a classic elegance to the work that would have been perfect on a warm 1930s paper. However, we live in the 21^st century and we work with what is available and Mr. Adams does a wonderful job presenting his subjects in a manner that can only be described as timeless, reverential, yet honest and true to the circumstances under which the people live in the hollers of Eastern Kentucky.

Shelby Lee Adams: The Napier Brother with Puppies, 1992

When still available, Shelby Lee Adams worked with a Polaroid back for his 4”x 5” camera and often gave the Polaroid to the subject of his photograph, before organizing himself for the actual exposure. Mr. Adams would bring the exposed film home and develop and print the images in his studio in upper New York State, at the very northern tip of the Appalachian Mountains. Prints in hand, Shelby Lee Adams would return to Kentucky. He still visits a couple of times a year to visit and share the resulting images with his friends, who greet him with a smile and a hug.

My final tribute is one of the rare Polaroids that Shelby Lee Adams made to prepare for the photograph: “Lloyd Dean with his Grandsons and a Pool Table, 2006.”

You can feel Shelby Lee Adams’ photographs. This is rare and wonderful and justifies my nomination of Mr. Adams for the title of: The Most Important Living Photographer in America.