Documenting Community. Reviewing APPALACHIAN LEGACY photographs by Shelby Lee Adams

[from the introduction of this article:Documentary photographers and photojournalists are cursed in many ways by the demands of their genre and profession. To maintain their vision and integrity, many photographers struggle for continuity by using new situations as a means for reinterpreting and exploring the same issues. Another part of the body of documentary photography establishes a photographic relationship with particular communities or movements over time. The link between the photographer and the people of the photographs becomes an integral part of the work itself. It is a source of richness, depth, and understanding because of the commitment of the photographer to the people involved, and their identifiable point of view. This is why Appalachian Legacy, the second book of photographs by Shelby Lee Adams, is such a remarkable book -- not a photographic project, but a section of a life's work.ti Documenting Community. Reviewing APPALACHIAN LEGACY photographs by Shelby Lee Adams