Interview with Bobby Neel Adams

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.