Appalachian Dreams Documentary is Live!
Out of the blue back in 2019, a gentleman by the name of Nick Taylor reached out to me. I didn’t know Nick, and he didn’t know me but had done some internet research looking for a landscape photographer in Appalachia, and came across my website…
Turns out Nick is a British/Canadian film editor and director based in Toronto. His work has been shown at TIFF, SXSW, Cannes Market, Traverse City and many other festivals. He has worked extensively in television for networks like A&E and the CBC. Nick was working with The Luminous Landscape (who I have worked with in the past) to create a series of short documentaries about photographers - their approach, their subjects, their process, all filmed on their home turf. Now I’m not going to lie - his call was pretty exciting for me. I am not a photographer that garners a lot of attention (which is fine and the way I prefer things to be), so to be presented with an opportunity that would almost certainly increase my visibility was pretty exciting from a business standpoint. BUT. After my initial excitement tempered, I started realizing that this was going to mean getting in FRONT of a camera. TALKING to a camera. And a whole lot of being vulnerable and uncomfortable away from the back of my camera which is where I’m used to being, lol. It took some time to organize a date, location, etc, and so I had pleeeenty of time to freak about what I signed up to do!
Nick took a train into my hometown, and then we took a road trip together to the Smokies in very late fall, since this is where I got my start and a place I love dearly. My great friend Tim Williams met us down there - and the three of us hiked, drove, and shot all around the park for a few days. Below you can see the results - the main feature, Appalachian Dreams, and two follow-up shorts about West Virginia and The Feminine Landscape. Nick is a very talented fellow as you will see - the music is even his own on these videos. I highly recommend you check out more of his work, by the way.
Ultimately, I got through the nerves part, thanks to Nick who was easy to be around. And I’m so grateful to have something so beautifully put together to document me and my work. What a gift!
M
