The True Meaning Of Pictures

Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia

An audience favorite at Sundance, The True Meaning of Pictures is an introduction to the work of renowned photographer Shelby Lee Adams. Born in East Kentucky, Adams has devoted 30 years of his life to visiting and making portraits of families living in Appalachia, those who have been misrepresented in the media and derogatorily referred to as "hillbillies."

Shelby's photographs confront the viewer with representations of reality that do not avoid difficult subject matter as he continues to pursue his personal, expressive view of the human condition. Many of his portraits of the Napier family concentrate of the vital matriarchal presence of Berthie Napier and the family's traditional Appalachian life in a remote holler. The Childers are a devoted and loving family who have worked hard to keep their developmentally challenged kids at home, and have provided Shelby with an opportunity for artistic growth that has been vital to his work. The film also includes vintage video footage of these families, as well as the rituals of the Holiness Pentecostal church. Living with a literal translation of the Bible, the Church's leaders are anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit, allowing them to take up serpents and drink deadly things.

A provocative exploration of Appalachian life, The True Meaning of Pictures also delves into the controversy that surrounds Adams' work, with hot debate amongst the critics, and revealing commentary from his friends and subjects. It makes us question the meaning of art itself, and along the way we get to know both Adams and the extraordinary people who stand in front of his camera.