As It Was Give(n) to Me

Stacy Kranitz, American

As It Was Give(n) to Me

This photograph was captured by Stacy Kranitz and displays a mountaintop removal mining site in West Virginia.  The green patch seen at the top of the blank mountain is a cemetery that families are given regular access to despite its rather remote location.  This work is part of a collection created by Kranitz titled “As It Was Give(n) to Me” which includes photos of the communities and environment of Appalachia affected by coal extraction which in turn directly causes water contamination, polluted air, and ultimately sickness of its people.  This photo is encapsulating in its exposure of the truth of coal mining in Appalachia.  It is powerful in its blunt statement and proof of the destruction of the beautiful scenery of the Appalachian mountains. Label by Callie Sties

Loyalties

Unknown

Loyalties, 2017

In Fighting King Coal, a photo included in the Photovoice exhibit from Community B portrayed two opposing bumper stickers on the backs of cars. One read, “I love Coal,” and the other read, “I love Mountains.” The title of this photo and it’s caption is, “Loyalties.” I found this to be a valuable photo in the way that it represents the social divide over coal mining. The word loyalty when applied to the sticker that says “I love Coal” depicts the vital role that coal played in building the foundations of the economy in this region. With that, many people embrace and celebrate coal mining as a part of their culture. This raises challenges when trying to form activists groups and spread awareness because not only are these ideas deeply ingrained making it hard for some people to see the truth of the situation, but it also deters the people who may want to become more active but feel as though they will be going against their community in doing so. Label by Jordan Stofko

Black Appalachia

Sarah Hoskins, American

Black Appalachia, 2017

The photographer Sarah Hoskins set out to show that the coal industry is diverse and not just exclusive to white workers. The photograph above is one artwork from her collection displaying the racial diversity of a coal community in Lynch, Kentucky. The scene takes place in a church as the deacon and others pray for Reverend Hampton. Many of the community members have a history in coal mining that has led to a shared sense of pride and strengthened bonds to support each other. Despite the decline of the coal industry in Lynch, these people continue to support each other in times of need and work towards a brighter future. Label by Jonathan Yoder

This is a photo by Sarah Hoskins from Katelyn Fossett’s article “Black Appalachia” showing members of the Mount Sinai Baptist Church in Lynch Kentucky praying for Reverend Hampton before his knee surgery. Through her photographs Hoskins documents Black communities in Appalachia that are left out of the common narrative, as Appalachia is usually characterized as “rural, mostly poor and mostly white” yet “coal miners have never been a racially homogenous group.” Fossett examines how the history of coal mining in the region created a large boom and bust leaving many towns empty as emigration rates rose. Lynch is one such town, with its population at a mere 800 people after the collapse of the coal economy. There is a juxtaposition between the pride people feel about their work in the mines, with the environmental issues that mountaintop removal mining has caused. Label by Savannah Singleton

Gulf Oil Spill

Mary Edna Fraser, American

Gulf Oil Spill, 2010

This piece is a bird’s eye view of oil-covered waters and seems to convey the deceptive beauty and insidious normalization of such opalescence. The blue water is overtaken with green, and the pink-orange-red of corexit, with which BP attempted to sweep the spill under the rug. The dark green and dark red are likely swirls of oil on water in a literal sense, but their abstraction evokes oil-covered animals struggling in water or faces under stark lighting and heavy shadow. The off-white objects floating on the water could be feathers, or plastics, bringing the petro-pollution full circle. What is most striking is the naturalism and normality: this could be any bird’s eye view of a landscape- the green could be vegetation, the orange and red clay, but the abstraction that obscures animals and faces also obscures any normal landform. In that way, this piece can be contextualized in continuing climate crisis art, as climate change will turn land into liquid and fills the ocean with runoff from the land. Label by Frank Kennedy