To hear the honest story of Appalachia, ask an Appalachian. Mountain stories told by those that live them. (Inspired by Humans of New York). Video courtesy of Jack Dunham & BVU, Bristol, Virginia.

About Humans of Central Appalachia:

My name is Malcolm J. Wilson. I am passionate about my origins and these mountains I call home. I launched Humans of Central Appalachia (HOCA) on Facebook in June 2015, inspired by the Humans Of New York (HONY) project. In New York City, the pace is fast and the quotes on HONY are short… It’s the culture. In Appalachia (Apple-At-Cha) we live a slower paced life. We are natural storytellers, so the stories are mostly longer.

Fiercely Appalachian-Proud, I have always viewed it as an honor and a responsibility to document the people and the stories I have had the privilege of collecting throughout the course of the four decades I have spent as a photojournalist and documentarian in the region.

Humans of Central Appalachia focuses on the people and stories of Eastern Kentucky, Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Western North Carolina and West Virginia. In addition to this Facebook page, we have launched a story searchable website at http://www.humansofcentralappalachia.org
On the website, visitors have access to all of the HOCA stories, a number of galleries, as well as being privy to tidbits not available on the Facebook page, such as a gallery of color photos and forthcoming audio clips from the actual interviews.

The story telling process involves traveling the region, attending festivals, car shows, family reunions, events, gatherings and conducting impromptu on the street interviews with a continual parade of interesting Appalachians who are excited to be asked to share their story.

We are passionate about Humans of Central Appalachia and the stories yet to be told, because, as Appalachians, we share a collective voice and message that needs to be heard. Unfortunately, we can’t do that with just wishful thinking and positive comments. In order to grow this project, we can’t continue to personally financially subsidize the travel, time and equipment necessary. We have invested significant amounts of funding in cameras, lenses, computers, recording equipment, travel, food, lodging and admission fees in the course of sharing our stories…sometimes actually sleeping in the back of our vehicle if the travel distances are far. There were particular months in 2015 we directly spent $2,000 or more to bring these stories to the Facebook and internet communities.

Together, we can build this community into something even more important, insightful and significant to the preservation of the Appalachian culture. We sincerely appreciate your support, and your willingness to share our Appalachian stories. There is much to celebrate and be proud of in our Appalachian culture…creativity, steely determination and passion. We invite you to help us share these things with a global audience via your financial support!

Show your support by giving a little each month so that we may not only continue, but make HOCA flourish!

Below find a sampling of photographs chosen from the nearly three hundred folks already featured in this project: