Ken Light: Coal Hollow - International Center Of Photography

Ken Light, James and his brother JR, three and five years old, Thacker Creek Hollow, West Virginia, 1999, International Center of Photography, gift of Stanley and Dorothea Light, 2001

West Virginia, once a principal source of the nation's coal, is now wracked by poverty and despair. Documentary photographer Ken Light's stark black-and-white images portray the culture of the state's small towns, after the mines have closed, where the people are devastated by unemployment, drug use, and mine-related diseases. The dire economic conditions of this largely neglected area of Appalachia are compounded by the revival of the Ku Klux Klan and the polluted environment left by the collapsed mining industry.

The exhibition was curated by ICP Chief Curator Brian Wallis. It was made possible with support from Sanford Luger and Ellen Samuel.