Appalachian Legacy: Photographs

Rating:
Summary: Think before you speak
Review: A very, very impressive book with a careful view on people that do deserve their place in history and somehow find a way to keep on their sunny side of life. The writings in this book indeed complement the realistic photography in a respectful way, and at no stage did I have the idea that anything or anyone was depicted in a derogatory or otherwise negative manner. Instead, it showed REAL people that may differ from the ones that you encounter in many other environments, but without the obligatory glamour and gloss that society forces onto us.

Today is a great day to stop making judgements.

Rating:
Summary: Confusing
Review: I grew up in rural Kentucky in an area where conditions were very similar to those in the Appalachian region. My first viewing of this book disturbed and angered me. I asked myself how someone could make a coffee table book out of subject matter which embarassed me because of where I grew up! I knew and grew up with people no different than this and didn't like seeing what I was seeing. It was a bittersweet sensation. It was a paradox for me. On the one hand, I have beautiful memories of growing up in rural Kentucky. On the other hand, I've never been able to figure out how people could live like this. After reading the narrative, searching my soul, and talking with my wife, I realize that these people aren't dissatisfied with life! They live hard lives but still enjoy life just like my family did. We rarely had two dimes to rub together but I was always happy. Life was good. Now this book has a home on my coffee table and I look at it with fond memories and affection for the people who live there.

Rating:
Summary: Open your mind instead of your mouth
Review: The few reviews I've read speaking ill of Adam's work are silly. You obviously have not read the text that accompany's the photographs. He does not seek to humiliate or degrade these people. He does not march into their homes "demanding" pictures of them, as one person says. He opens our mind to another way of living. If you look at the photographs and accompanying text, you'll see just the opposite of this negativity that you accuse him of. The depth of this book is wonderful and eye opening.