The True Meaning of Pictures - Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachi

The meaning of art itself comes into question in this documentary about Shelby Lee Adams' controversial photos of families in Appalachia.
More specifically, the film seeks to (i) spend time with the subjects of Adam's work, in order to get to know them better and (ii) address the controversy and response Adams' photographs generate, which involves the politics of representation. Both strands of the film will combine to explore the larger-- and also self-reflexive-- issue of whether it is possible to "document" a community. The emotional intention is to compel viewers to move beyond voyeurism into empathy, so that by the end of the film they will feel authentically connected to people with whom they assume they have nothing in common.