Storytelling in precarious landscapes: Insights from a photovoice project in rural Appalachia

Keywords: Photovoice, Storytelling, Covid, Flooding, Appalachia, West Virginia
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in the small central Appalachian town of Rainelle, West Virginia cannot be understood separately from the broader human-environment relationships of this place. These relationships are grounded in landscapes that hold tremendous natural beauty alongside the scars of coal and timber extraction, and which now face increased risk of flooding as a result of the changing climate those extractive industries helped create. Too often, stories of this place lack attention to this complexity because they do not account for the perspectives and knowledges of the people who live and make their livelihoods there. This paper details findings from a photovoice project in Rainelle that captured life in the small town in Fall 2020, through the lenses of nine town residents. Their photos tell a story not just of the height of the pandemic in rural America, but also of what happened when the pandemic intersected with ongoing efforts to recover from a devastating flood in 2016 and decades of socio-economic hardship before that. The results show that photovoice is an effective method by which geographers can facilitate the telling of stories by and with our research participants, as well as the importance of telling stories from those not typically part of conversations about climate change, such as those from the precarious landscapes of rural Appalachia.