The Front Porch Blog « Appalachian Voices

Snake Handlers, Strippers and the KKK: CNN’s Portrait of “Everyday Life in Appalachia”

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 | Posted by Matt Wasson

So CNN ran a sensationalized and superficial story built on stereotypes that lacked any news value. Big news, right? Grow up, kid, this is the entertainment business…

That’s an excerpt from the conversation in my head before deciding to write a post about the photo-essay that was posted on the front page of CNN.com on Monday with the teaser image of a burning cross. The link was titled “Everyday Life in Appalachia.”

Teaser Image for CNN's "Everyday Life in Appalachia"Photo Essay

I’ll spare you the righteous indignation and the pages of moralizing that virtually burst from my fingertips and get right to the point of why it’s worth calling attention to this particularly offensive piece of pseudo-journalistic garbage: misleading stereotypes have real world consequences.

Vote for Your Favorite Appalachian Photo

Monday, March 28th, 2011 | Posted by Griff Crews

Interested in seeing some Appalachian Mountain inspired art?

Evolution River by Scott Hotaling, 2010 People's Choice Award recipient

Get out to the Turchin Visual Art Center this week to check out photographs of the amazing culture and scenery of the Appalachian Mountains captured by local photographers. Forty-four images from the 8th Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition are currently on display including five images in the “Our Environmental Footprint” category sponsored by Appalachian Voices.

Be sure to VOTE for your favorite photographer to win the prestigious “People’s Choice Award” as well as $350 from Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters. You can vote for your favorite photograph at a kiosk at the Turchin Center or at www.appmtnphotocomp.org, but make sure to do it before Friday, April 1 at 5pm when voting closes.

In addition to capturing the stunning scenery and culture of this region, The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition helps to subsidize Appalachian State University’s Student Outdoor Learning Expeditions.

If you cannot make it to the Turchin Center this week, the photographs will be on display until June 4.

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Click Click Snap Away Photographers!

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 | Posted by Jillian Randel

Snap away photographers! The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition is underway and it’s perfect weather for walking, hiking, biking and poking around the outside world with your camera.

As you wander around with your camera during the upcoming months, pay special attention to the category sponsored by Appalachian Voices called “Our Ecological Footprint.” Perhaps you come across a tree root overtaking some manmade object, an abandoned trail cut through the woods or some industrial practice that is harming the environment. The point is to show how we as a species have impacted the natural world. Look around at what inspires you.

Don’t forget your other categories as well: Adventure; Blue Ridge Parkway Vistas; “The Parkway Tree Project,” (Blue Ridge Parkway Share the Journey® annual category); Culture; Flora and Fauna; and Landscape.

There will be $4,000 dollars in cash and prizes offered in the competition. Appalachian Voices is offering a $200 prize for the winner of the “Our Ecological Footprint” category. Last year’s winning photo was of the TVA coal ash spill in Roane County, Tennessee.

There is a $6 entrance fee per photograph and you have until December 17 at 5:00pm to submit pictures. Visit www.appmtnphotocomp.org for more information.

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Photographer Awarded for Photos on Beauty of Coal Country

Monday, September 6th, 2010 | Posted by Sandra Diaz

Carl Galie, an photographer hailing from Winston-Salem, was recently awarded the first ever Art for Conservation Grant to go towards the printing of his work for public display. He has been very active with Appalachian Voices in our work to end mountaintop removal, both through action online and visiting decision-makers to tell them about his experience taking photos in the Appalachian coalfields.

His series, “Lost on the Road to Oblivion, The Vanishing Beauty of Coal Country” hones in on the beauty of the coalfields in order to highlight the needless destruction of many of the central and southern Appalachian mountains through mountaintop removal coal mining.

According to Galie, “Lost on the Road…” is an attempt to educate the public about mountaintop removal by showing the effects this mining practice is having on our nation’s oldest mountains and the potential impact on watersheds beyond the coalfields. It is also intended to gain support for the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310) and the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696).”

Galie is looking to exhibit his photos in galleries in North Carolina, since the state is one of the top consumers of mountaintop removal coal.

We appreciate your good work, Carl!

To see Carl’s photography, please visit his website.

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