Every summer for more than forty years, Shelby Lee Adams travelled to eastern Kentucky's mountains to photograph. Now in his seventies, he has returned to unpublished images made between 1974 and 2010, determined to print overlooked photographs before it was too late. Nearly ninety appear in From the Heads of the Hollers, portraying his homeland's people and culture.
 
The publisher states that ten per cent of profits from post-preorder sales purchased directly through gostbooks.com will be donated to the Team Kentucky Flood Relief Fund.
 
Adams's initial intention was to "photograph what I knew". His annual visits allowed him to renew and relive his mountain childhood. Beginning with grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbours and friends, he sought introductions when returning with prints for his subjects. Each introduction led to another, and over four decades he photographed three, four or even five generations of the same families.
 
He often photographed people on later visits, sometimes two years apart, sometimes a decade. Each person appears as they chose and felt most comfortable: seated or standing, outside their home or inside, revealing daily life's details. Some photographs show entire families, siblings or friends; others depict solitary figures. All are united by the subjects' steady gaze towards Adams and his camera.
 
The book's publication coincides with an exhibition at Paul Paletti Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky, from 5 October to 29 December 2023, as part of the Louisville Photo Biennial.