Wonderful character development!

A Brilliant Conflict

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

So I watched 2002's "The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia" directed by Jennifer Baichwal. So was it good, I say yes but not great, and actually just barely good. This movie mostly struck me as pretentious people commenting on the validity of photographing hillbillies. In this film we are even given the definition of a hillbilly by a PHD oooooh, I'll let the filmmaker in on a little secret everyone freaking knows what a hillbilly is. This documentary reflects on the relationship between photographer Shelby Lee Adams' and his subjects of thirty some odd years the mountain folk of Appalachia. He has an honest and true regard for these people having come from this breed of people I guess, however I do not share his love of these creatures. Look we all have flaws and we all have strengths, however I think most hillbillies are racist, undereducated, under motivated, drug addicted, often incestuous, cretins. I fear this type of people because any contact I have with this breed of American has reinforced the stereotypes of them, and their portrayal in this documentary did nothing to change that opinion. This movie is very dry and very boring, but it is a valid exercise in the documentary genre and is an interesting subject overall. However, I personally recommend the "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia", if you want to see a documentary on hillbillies. It is more fast paced, has good music, and in general gives a more honest portrayal of what a hillbilly is in my opinion. So watch both, I think it is a good way to compare and contrast two sides of the same coin. if you like concise reviews of interesting films please read my other reviews at http://raouldukeatthemovies.blogspot.com/

I loved the way this movie presented the controversy over Adams photographs by allowing the different perspectives to state their positions and impressions without interruption nor extraneous commentary. The film makers camera seems to pierce the photographs and show the context, which the still camera obscures. Children with facial disfigurements are photographed by Adams and frankly in these photos, they are uncomfortable to look at. But in this documentary, the subjects are seen playing and interacting with their family and their playful demeanour and the acceptance that they have from their family makes you not seem them as objects of pity. Despite this, it should be noted that this is not a hatchet job on Mr. Adams, and he is clearly given his space to speak and his arguments are valid and he is certainly not demonized. This is the genius of this movie; it moves from a specific example of possible misrepresentation of a group to analyze the relationship of artists and their subject. Fantastically subtle.

This film looks at the photographer Shelby Lee Adams and his Kentucky holler neighbors. The obvious comparison is to Walker Evans and the pictures he took for Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. There, the grinding poverty was clear and unambiguous; barefoot sharecroppers with only a broken-down bed and a couple of chairs that they had to make themselves. Evans was accused of manipulating his images, although how you can make dirt-poor look even poorer is beyond my understanding. Shelby Adams is charged with stage-managing his scenes of mountain-gorge desperation. It is true that the hog-butchering scene was brought about by Adams's planning, but little else could have been arranged. Certainly the snake-handling is real; you see the man in hospital with his arm swelled up to watermelon size. The two dwarfs, both with mental handicaps, are probably the result of incest, but this theme is treated very gingerly indeed. If you want to meet the people who sat for great photos like Brothers Praying, Hooterville, Kentucky and The Kiss, this is a great opportunity.

As a photographer, I'm aware of myself, the subject, and the viewer. Unfortunately, how the viewer perceives the results is not in my control--even the subjects as viewer may misconstrue my purpose.This film explores those options and, interestingly, leaves it to the audience to decide on the evidence presented. Shelby Lee Adams presents his case well as the photographer, but it is clear that the subjects of his pictures are not aware of the subtler influences of outside society on the content of the pictures.In all, a great film to watch if you're interested in perceptions.