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Appalachia: Mountaintops to Moonscapes AOP Awards
alan gignoux
Jun 19, 2020
AOP Awards The Association of Photographers.
Alan Gignoux www.gignouxphotos.com
My short film, Appalachia: Mountaintops to Moonscapes was a finalist in the moving image category at this year's AOP 2016 Awards.
The ancient mountain forests of Appalachia have been felled and what remains is an eerie, barren landscape of rough-hewn rock. The short film shows the effects of mountain top removal in America's coal heartland.
https://vimeo.com/82134486
We were so pleased to be nominated to gain more exposure for the project.
The Awards were presented at a special ceremony at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, London. We didn't win, but it was great to have the short film nominated and reach a wider audience.
Appalachia in Virginia is known for two very different reasons. Firstly, as America's "resource colony," which at its height a hundred years ago supplied two-thirds of the nation's coal reserves. Secondly, as the poorest, least educated and least healthy region of North America with a scarred landscape that may never recover. Coal mining has been part of the socio-economic fabric of this part of Appalachia for over a century, but a move away from traditional shaft mining to mountaintop removal methods has devastated local communities by taking away employment, destroying the landscape and causing pollution-related health problems. I will be developing this work further.
Gignouxphotos is an established photojournalistic and multimedia company, whose projects focus on the socio-political and environmental aspects of controversial issues around the world. Working with Non-Governmental Organisations such as CARE, Oxfam and the British Council, projects have all achieved international success.
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