TRAVEL, WEST VIRGINIA

Love, Loss, and Laughter in the Hills

A photographic journey through Hinton, West Virginia

Hinton, WV (Photograph by author)

Anthony Bourdain wrote that travel is not always pretty or comfortable and may break your heart. Big cities and people I do not understand don’t do it for me but give me a small Appalachian town, and I’m on my way!

I recently travelled to Hinton, WV, and came back with a story. I love street photography. It’s much easier and impersonal in a big city but in a small town? Well, just be prepared to be asked what you’re doing. In return, you’ll get your photograph and a story to tell.

Hinton is one of those places where you can take postcard shots in the summer when the town is hemmed in by verdant forests, or in fall when the magic of the colors leaves you in awe. But to see the people and make personal memories, you must go in late fall when most of the leaves are gone, houses peep out from underneath trees, and people come out to enjoy the last sun rays before the cold comes.

These are days when the cold air allows you to walk for miles and feel the sun on your skin without breaking a sweat. Here I follow Barry Lopez’s advice: become intimate with a new place to experience it truly. Forget about myself and be acutely aware of the surroundings, the sound of birds in trees, the smell of moldy leaves, and even the sensation of…