What is unique about your research on this topic?

My dissertation, “Dangerous Photographs: What’s the harm in documentary?”, examines the ways photographs have been employed in narrating the industrial and cultural history of Central Appalachia—specifically parts of southern West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and eastern Kentucky. Rather than offering photographic interpretation of the region itself, I interrogate how documentary photographs of Central Appalachia have supported harmful narratives and served corporate powers. My research brings Appalachian Studies as well the legal and medical humanities into conversation with the writings of art historians and cultural theorists who have long categorized the camera as a weapon and the photograph as a carrier of violence. But instead of re-emphasizing the weaponization of photographs, I offer “dangerous photographs” as a way of looking that prioritizes the potential of photographs to cause harm, especially in their capacity to support evidentiary claims. I also consider how photographers and artists harness that same dangerous potential to advocate for individuals under duress.

What drives your interest in this research?

The topic is very close to home. I grew up in southwestern Virginia where the economy and landscape has been largely shaped by the coal industry. I’ve always been frustrated by images of the region, especially those appearing in news reports that focus on a narrative of poverty and decline in the region with little historical nuance. My frustration with such images pushed me away from researching photographs of Appalachia for a long time, but in 2022 eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia experienced a devastating flood. In addition to destroying homes, floodwaters affected a significant local archive held by Appalshop, a community documentary film and media center. The Appalshop Archive holds the photographic negatives of William R. “Pictureman” Mullins, a local studio photographer whose work is a significant case study for one of my dissertation chapters. The Archive is doing incredible conservation and recovery work, but flooding is becoming more frequent due to climate change. As our governing powers cite the return of coal mining jobs and production as justification for industrial deregulation and economic isolation (despite the potential harms to ecologies and international relationships), having a critical view of the region and its history, as well as how images have been used to shape our understanding of it, becomes even more urgent.

How has the fellowship seminar shaped the way you’re approaching your research?

I’ve always considered art history to be a fairly interdisciplinary field, but our conversations in the fellowship seminars have been critical as I’ve identified disciplinary blind spots in my research.  The generous feedback offered on my writing has been invaluable. I’ve recently started to engage with a body of literature that is new to me, and hearing the other fellows’ thoughts on my use of it has been really revealing. Learning to teach oneself is an essential part of graduate study, but our seminar has also reaffirmed for me the importance of research and study done in community.

Photos, from left to right: (1) The storefront of William R. “Pictureman” Mullins’s studio in East Jenkins, Kentucky. Original negative by William R. Mullins, c. 1945, Appalshop Archives. (2) River baptism of unidentified man and woman. Original negative by William R. Mullins, between 1935-1955, Appalshop Archives. (3) Unidentified young man posing in front of an advertising billboard. Original negative by William R. Mullins, c. 1944, Appalshop Archives.