The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

The Josephs' Porch

1994

Shelby Lee Adams

(American, b. 1950)
America
gelatin silver print
Image: 47.5 x 37.8 cm (18 11/16 x 14 7/8 in.); Paper: 50.6 x 40.1 cm (19 15/16 x 15 13/16 in.); Matted: 71.1 x 55.9 cm (28 x 22 in.)
The Thomas and Mildred Dougherty Foundation 1995.89
Location: Not on view

Description

Born in eastern Kentucky, photographer Shelby Lee Adams initially used his familial background to gain access to people residing in Appalachian Mountain communities in what has become a more-than-three-decade-long photographic collaboration between friends and relatives. As viewed in The Josephs’ Porch, Adams explores both the unfamiliar and dignified sides of Appalachian families as well as their degree of isolation from mainstream contemporary society. Adams typically spends time with the members of each family before photographing them, which results in sincere and revealing portraits of the human condition.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: P. 80
  • Portraiture: American Photography 1960 to the Present. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 1-September 13, 2009).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (06/01/2009 - 09/13/2009); "Portraiture: American Photography 1960 to the Present"
    CMA, April 7-June 4, 1995: "Shelby Lee Adams Photographs: Appalachian Portraits."
  • {{cite web|title=The Josephs' Porch|url=false|author=Shelby Lee Adams|year=1994|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.89