Synopsis
The eighty photographs collected in this book were taken over the course of a quarter-century. They are Adams's study of people who give themselves honestly and openly before his camera. He focuses here on nine families that have been his recurring subjects during these years. His words that accompany the images reveal his long-term association with them and with their histories. Appalachian Legacy reflects the identity of Adams and his photography while capturing the indelible heritage of old Appalachia. It shows as well the new Appalachia absorbed by the American mainstream of television, trailer parks, and strip malls.
Reviews
paper 1-57806-049-4 A further documentary record of the lives of nine families in Appalachia by the creator of Appalachian Portraits (1993). Like that earlier volume, this new collection of photographs by Adams is frank, unsentimental, but often affectionate. And like Walker Evans, who took some notable photographs in the rural South, Adams is a master at using available light to saturate an image--these black-and-white photographs of families gathered on the porches or in the crowded rooms of their hardscrabble, venerable homes show a remarkable crispness of detail. While the effects of longstanding poverty and malnutrition, along with the ravages of disease and alcoholism, are all evident here, so too are a resilience and grace. Adams's lengthy notes on the families he portrays also stress his conviction that for far too long, poor rural southerners have been the victims of one-dimensional depictions. An unusual record, in prose and photographs, of an old and ebbing way of life by a disciplined, gifted photographer. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Adams brings a respectful but always honest eye to his photographs of the people and places of Appalachia. At a quick glance, this work might seem essentially a graphic depiction of poverty, neglect, and need. But a careful look, which Adams's book deserves, reveals a world of families and history and a timeless merging of people and place. Appalachia has long been synonymous with the rural struggle that results from too little income and too little education, but here it emerges as a place of frail dignity and enduring natural rhythm. Adams must be praised for his skills in handling photography: his black-and-white images are exquisitely composed, finely detailed, full of deep tone and texture, and memorable to viewers. In addition, his fine essay, which opens the book, explains in a humble way how he achieved his visual mastery of Appalachian subjects. Highly recommended.?David Bryant, New Canaan P.L., CT
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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