Response to "The True Meaning of Pictures"

"The True Meaning of Pictures" by Jennifer Baichwal shows appalachia "the holler dwellers" through the work of Shelby Lee Adams. It was an incredibly interesting film, but not necessarily about the people who live in Appalachia, rather the stereotypes and the biases evident in the film. It's interesting to ask the question, "who has the right to film a documentary?" Adams has the excuse that he grew up in Appalachia, but noting that he would switch accents when he was around the 'holler dwellers' and when he was doing interviews in front of the camera perhaps implies that there is a conflict in identity. Or is he just trying to please the crowd? Trying to fit in? 

I'm sure that there were tons of biases in the film, but it's also important to note the photography with the girl hugging a torn down wooden window in a decapitated looking house and the reactions by Shelby Lee Adams and the woman who had left Appalachia and how different their analysis were. This is because they were both seemingly from the same background, yet conceived the photograph in two different ways. The essential thing to note about this scene though, unlike the biases from other parts of the film that Adams shows, is that when looking at a piece of art, it is open to different interpretations. So, though it seems as if they were both from the same background, they could have come out with different experiences from their backgrounds and felt differently about Appalachia, and I think that is important to consider.