Adams' photographs are certainly memorable, that much is certain. They aren't something most people are used to seeing every day, and Adams is right, he's challenging the audience. A lot of people have a problem with it because it seems like he's exploiting these people, but honestly, I don't see anything wrong with his work. He makes a connection with people and he photographs them in their homes, with their families. I disagree completely with the woman in the movie who was upset about the photograph of her sister. That image is one of my favorites of Adams'. She's a beautiful girl, and just because she's standing in front of a door with a torn screen doesn't mean anything. She's looking at the photograph with a bias, not for what it is. It has a beautiful composition, it has wonderful lighting and fantastic subjects.
I believe Adams' work is a mixture of both fine art and documentary. There are certainly aspects of documentary photography, showing families in their home settings, but I think the majority of it is fine art. He does set up shots, and because of that, I can't personally consider it documentary photography. To me, documentary photography is capturing a moment on the fly, without warning. I think that taking a photograph this way is the only way to make something true (which isn't to say it might not be without bias).
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I agree with the comment about the girl in the screen door. She is a pretty girl, but the guy in the background is bizarre. What's he doing there?
Good catch Ashley- I think that the girl's sister is focused on a literal and slightly over-reactive stance to the appearance and implication of a little girl leaning through a screen door. The truly narrative aspect of the picture is the sweetness, beauty and innocence of the girl contrasted with the tall, older, and stereotypically sinister Appalachian man standing (is he lurking?) behind her. This is where the critics' points of view come into play--is Adams playing up stereotypes of incest here? Is the man's appearance due to birth defects caused by in-breeding? He cannot deny that the picture is charged--and I'm not sure if the girl's sister just doesn't read into it that way, or is too polite to peel back the skin on that particular fruit.
-CM
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