Salt & Truth is the fourth book from American photographer Shelby Lee Adams. This collection of 80 new photographs, taken over the past eight years, continues a project the artist has been working on now for over 30 years. Together these powerful images of the hollow dwellers of eastern Kentucky, represent a singular access to a world that is historically not very trusting of outsiders, by a photographer who is widely recognized as a master of the medium.
Born in Hazard, Kentucky and raised in a hollow similar to those in the book, Adams’ connection to the people in his photographs is evident in the way that he has been openly welcomed into their homes and lives. Adams, along with his 4×5 view camera, is allowed into the personal space of his subjects, a witness in times of celebration as well as times of hardship. The photographs in this collection are of children and animals, of older folks, of working people, and the various details as seen through Adams camera, speak eloquently to the larger issues of faith and respect and compassion when many others might have seen only poverty and desperation. Adams knows what it means to be from this place, of this place. Available at Amazon for $37.80.