My grandparents grew up and lived in McDowell County, West Virginia. As a coal miner, my grandfather led a very dangerous life and decided to seek something better for his wife and two daughters. Almost 50 years ago, they made the difficult decision to move out west in search of a better life away from the constant dangers and toxic dust in the mines.
My name is Noah Bryant and I have been a fine art photographer for 18 years and have been published and sold my work worldwide (www.noahbryant.net). I specialize in fine art nature photography but have worked in every industry of photography including marketing photography, weddings, photojournalism and portraiture.
In 2016, I travelled to West Virginia an hopes of documenting the state and especially the areas that they grew up. I had a custom hardback book published of the photographs and gave them the book for Christmas.
These are the photos.
Cathedral Falls
Babcock State Park
Babcock State Park is in Fayette County also just off of Highway 60. Babcock is home to what is probably the most photographed building in all of West Virginia, the Glade Creek Grist Mill.
Central West Virginia
Beauty
Industry
Scattered throughout the state you'll find signs of West Virginia's industrial roots. West Virginia's coal mines are prominent but you'll also find evidence of old logging mills, as well as metal manufacturing. Connecting it all is the criss cross of hundreds of miles of railroad tracks.
Decimation of Coal
For the past three decades the coal industry in the United States has been in decline. As renewable industry sources become more popular and federal regulations put a crimp on coal production and energy the cuts are felt hardest by the more than 120,000 coal miners and their families who have lost their jobs across the US but in West Virginia most of all.
Welch, WV
When my grandparents were living in West Virginia, Welch was the big town that they would go to for shopping. As the McDowell County's seat, it's also got some history behind it. As coal mining began to boom in the early 1900s, Welch also began to boom once claiming itself to be, "The Heart of the Nation's Coal Bin." In 1960 presidential candidate John F. Kennedy made a stop in Welch during a tour of West Virginia meeting with many locals, one of them being my grandfather.
Iaeger
Iaeger, West Virginia was another town frequented by my grandparents (as well as my mother and aunt). Iaeger is not near quite as big of a town as Welch but was where they went for groceries and to visit the Montgomery Ward for Dr. Pepper and RC Cola.
Noah Bryant
For some people, a camera is a way to preserve memories. For Noah Bryant, it’s a way to inspire. He’s not just trying to inspire the countless people who gaze upon the wonders of the world he so brilliantly freezes in time, he’s hoping, with every shot he takes, to inspire himself.
From the time he was barely a teenager, Bryant has been drawn to the world around him – the majestic mountains that sprang out of the ground to the west of where he grew up, the drop of dew hanging precariously from the perfectly symmetrical spider web in his backyard, the ruffled feathers of a Bald Eagle soaring effortlessly against the clouds – the wonders of nature have always been right there in front of him, but it’s never been enough for Bryant to just witness them, he’s always been driven to share that splendor with the world that inspires him so much. The inspiration to see more. To do more. To be more.
More than the colors or the composition or the breathtaking beauty, it’s this element that is so readily apparent in all of Bryant’s images – the inspiration for all of us to live more of the glorious life that’s waiting for us just beyond the borders of our comfort zone.