shelby lee adams: salt & truth

shelby lee adams first encountered the communities of the appalachian mountains as a child while accompanying his doctor uncle on his rounds. in the mid-1970s, he began photographing in the region using a 4 x 5 camera, earning the trust of its often impoverished residents, who have not always welcomed outside documentarians. adams not only records their lives and hardships with great empathy, but also captures the grace and humanity of his subjects, photographing them with an ease that is evident in the results. salt and truth is adams' fourth monograph and presents 80 new photographs, most of which were taken over the past eight years. the collection features children and animals, working people, and a way of life rarely seen through the lens of photographers.

shelby lee adams (born 1950) is an american photographer renowned for his environmental portraiture, primarily in the appalachian mountains of eastern kentucky. his work has been featured in three previous monographs: appalachian portraits (1993), appalachian legacy (1998), and appalachian lives (2003). in 2010, he was awarded a guggenheim fellowship. his photographs are held in major permanent collections, including the art institute of chicago; the international center of photography, new york; musée de l'elysée, lausanne; the museum of modern art, new york; the national gallery of canada, ottawa; the stedelijk museum, amsterdam; the time life collection, new york; the victoria and albert museum, london; and the whitney museum of american art, new york. adams was also the subject of jennifer baichwal's 2002 documentary film, the true meaning of pictures: shelby lee adams' appalachia.