Participation Type
Discussion
Session Title
Session 7.02 Folklore and Folkways
Presentation #1 Title
Contemporary Photographic Practices in Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Roger May and Stacy Kranitz propose a facilitated conversation with 5 contemporary photographers working in Appalachia. We will expand the conversation beyond each photographer’s individual work to reflect on the complicated history of photographic representation in this region, and discuss how it impacts each photographer’s work. The discussion will be an extension of the conversation started on Roger May’s blog, Walk Your Camera, (http://walkyourcamera.com/), where he hosts a regular interactive conversation on issues surrounding photographer’s working in Appalachia. We will focus the discussion on how each photographer negotiates stereotypes, translates experience, and interprets memory and history in Appalachia. Both May and Kranitz will act as discussants providing a short prologue to the conversation. This will be followed by brief individual introductions from each photographer. May and Kranitz will pose several prepared questions during the conversation and close with a brief statement that ties together the discussed themes. We have compiled a list of ten photographers including Rob Amberg, Aaron Canipe, Kate Fowler, Jared Hamilton, Susan Lipper, Tammy Mecure, Lauren Schneiderman and Mike Smith. If our proposal is accepted we will invite five of these photographers to participate in this moderated discussion based on availability. We will also prepare a slide show of images from all of the participating photographers, for the audience to view during the discussion.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Stacy Kranitz’s work explores history, representation, biography, personal narrative, and otherness within the documentary tradition. She uses the photograph to consider important social issues while commenting on this tradition and challenging its boundaries. During the past three years, she has done 12 months of fieldwork in Central Appalachia examining representation and stereotypes in the region. She received a BA in photography and film from New York University and is currently finishing her MFA at the University of California, Irvine.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Roger May is an Appalachian American photographer currently living in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is working on a series of images and limited edition book, Testify, a visual love letter to Appalachia? These images are a vignette into his working through the problem of the construction of memory versus reality. His work embraces the raw beauty of the mountains while keeping at arms length the stereotypical images that have tried to define Appalachia for decades. He is currently enrolled in the Certificate in Documentary Arts program at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, where he has also worked as a part time instructor.
Contemporary Photographic Practices in Appalachia
Corbly Hall 243
Roger May and Stacy Kranitz propose a facilitated conversation with 5 contemporary photographers working in Appalachia. We will expand the conversation beyond each photographer’s individual work to reflect on the complicated history of photographic representation in this region, and discuss how it impacts each photographer’s work. The discussion will be an extension of the conversation started on Roger May’s blog, Walk Your Camera, (http://walkyourcamera.com/), where he hosts a regular interactive conversation on issues surrounding photographer’s working in Appalachia. We will focus the discussion on how each photographer negotiates stereotypes, translates experience, and interprets memory and history in Appalachia. Both May and Kranitz will act as discussants providing a short prologue to the conversation. This will be followed by brief individual introductions from each photographer. May and Kranitz will pose several prepared questions during the conversation and close with a brief statement that ties together the discussed themes. We have compiled a list of ten photographers including Rob Amberg, Aaron Canipe, Kate Fowler, Jared Hamilton, Susan Lipper, Tammy Mecure, Lauren Schneiderman and Mike Smith. If our proposal is accepted we will invite five of these photographers to participate in this moderated discussion based on availability. We will also prepare a slide show of images from all of the participating photographers, for the audience to view during the discussion.
