Although I'm not originally from Appalachia I was born in a tiny oil and coal town in Southern Illinois that was very much like where I grew up in East Tennessee. At the age of three my family moved us to Oak Ridge Tn which was known as the atomic city. Oak Ridge didn't exist until 1942 when it became a secret government site where the uranium was enriched for the two atomic bomb that ended WWII. We were atypical of the surrounding area in that we had more Phd's per capita than any other place in the US. Robert Oppenheimer and General Lesli Groves were two notable figures that headed the Manhattan Project and were frequently in Oak Ridge.
MY father was into photography and I became interested at the age of 5 watching him make images and process and print them. I started shooting with my mothers Anasco 620 box camera in 1953 and received my first Brownie at age 7 in 1955. I've always been fascinated with the Appalachian culture. landscape and people. Over the years I've documented the people and culture of the area and would like to share some of it with you.
The area has changed a great deal over the decades of my life. These images represent the old world of Appalachia, not the new. Most of these date to the late 60's through the 90's.
Bookmarks