CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 11/14/2011

Shelby Lee Adams: Salt & Truth Featured in The New York Times

A selection of Shelby Lee Adams' portraits of Kentucky mountain people was published this weekend by The New York Times (also expanded as a slideshow online). Gathered from Adams' new release, Salt & Truth, published by Candela Books, the images are accompanied by a short text by the artist, reproduced below.

OF KENTUCKY
Shelby Lee Adams
"Throughout my life I have experienced cultural diversity and continue to travel between two worlds, the hollers and cities. I was born in Hazard, KY, and raised primarily in a holler called Johnson's Fork, in Letcher County, where only mountain people had lived for generations. People from both sides of my family were born, lived andd died here. Neither of my grandfathers ever lived anywhere else. In true mountain tradition, they both gave land to my parents to build their home.
When I was young I couldn't wait to leave Kentucky. Now, as I get older, I value every day when I return."