q)Who are you? Where are you from and where do you live now?
a)My name is Bobby Neel Adams. I was born in Black Mountain, North
Carolina in the United States. Despite being born in the south my
family moved when I was six months old to a very small town in Kansas.
My family moved again when I was fourteen to Colorado where I went to
Jr. and Sr. Public High School. I then went to the east coast to
attend Goddard College. After graduating I lived in San Francisco for
eighteen years and then moved to New York in 1996 where I live to this
day
q)What is it that you do? What media do you use?
a)I am a photographer and only use film. I bought a digital camera one
month ago but have yet to use it for a major project
q)What do you think sets your work apart?
a)All of my photo-montage work is hand made. I have never used
Photoshop, although, I have been accused of it, by other “blogger”
types.
q)How long have you been showing your work for? Did you have a “big break?”
a)My first solo show happened in the late 1980’s. I wouldn’t say I have
ever had a “big break” only a strung out series of small breaks.
Rarely has making art been the greater part of my earnings per year,
yet I keep making artwork.
q)What are some things that have inspired you?
a)I am inspired by all art. Writing, visual arts, film, and to a lesser
degree dance, theater, and music. I am inspired those people facing
hardships, with dignity.
q)What have you been working on recently?
a)I have been working on a series of underwater photographs titled
DROWNED. These still life images are made in my studio. They are the
most composed, traditional photographs I have ever made.
q)Do you listen to music while you create your work? If so, would you
give some examples?
a)Sometimes when I am printing in a rental lab there is a background of
music. When I am photographing in my studio I listen to National
Public Radio. These are mostly news, talk, and public interest
stories.
q)Do you do work in any other media? Other projects not necessarily
related to your main body of work?
a)Yes, I have been writing non-fiction. I started my small writing
career (if I dare call it that) in my fifties. I had my first story
titled: How I Spent my Fifty-third birthday published in DAMn
Magazine, Brussels, several years ago. And my second story: Los
Algodones – The Disneyland of Tooth Decay, published in two separate
magazines last year. Luckily I have not suffered rejection. I
presently have eight other stories on my desk.
q)What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?
a)I am a bad person to ask for advice on this count. All of the
exhibitions I have participated in have come to me out of the blue.
The phone rings or an email arrives with a proposition for a show. I
do think that for a photographer, in particular, it is a good thing to
have your work published and in the public view, this extends to the
web. I definitely believe that no publicity is bad publicity.
q)Do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work that you can mention?
a)Barely, I may be in a group exhibition at the Koehler Center for the
Arts in 2011. New York has been hit hard by the recession. The gallery
I was working with closed their doors last winter.
q)Where can people see more of your work on the internet?
a)My website is: www.bobbyneeladams.com
There are many other blogs and websites that I show up on but none of
it is my doing.
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