Appalachia. Mountaintops to Moonscapes

January 30, 2022

Appalachia, Virginia is mainly known for two reasons. The first is that it’s an incredibly resource-rich territory; it supplies two-thirds of the nation’s coal reserves. Coal is an outdated energy source, which is damaging to the environment as it’s slowly being phased throughout the whole world in

Recent Stories

Noora
A person’s own life ultimately comes to a screeching halt when their child is born. They are no longer fully free or the center of their own universe as there is that tiny human whose creation they were responsible for and who cannot take care of their own basic needs.
Shervine Nafissi
Presence in the Absence
The story takes desolated buildings and structures as its starting point. Devoid of human presence, albeit designed and constructed by humans, these are places that were once the product of a utopian vision.
Karin van de Wiel
On the first day of the Russian invasion
We are contacting photographers and authors who work in Ukraine to help spread their stories. Here's the first one. Please share and join us in supporting Ukrainians — the info is below. On the first day of the invasion, nobody was ready for HOW nightmarish it would be, nobody believed that this will end up with rocket strikes targeting civilian neighborhoods of Kiyv and other cities. So, it is where we are now. Evgeny Maloletka [https://www.evgenymaloletka.com/], a Ukrainian freelance photojo
Evgeniy Maloletka
Balaganza
A spotlight on the drag queens in the only gay bar in Lithuania. Forcedly hidden from the public eye in the post-Soviet country, these performances seem too deliberately shocking for the part of the society.
Milda Vysniauskaite
Exemplary Home
Exemplary Home is a documentary work exploring the north-western part of rural Bulgaria. It aims to illustrate the effects of rapid urbanisation, progressive globalisation and corruption on the most vulnerable parts of Bulgarian society.
Yassen Grigorov
One Hundred Yards From Home
A photographic exploration of family relationships and an inquiry into connection, history and the fragility of the tie between mother and daughter.
Cheryl Newman
Calais Migrant Camp ‘The Jungle’
Back in September 2016, Aaron Chown set out to document the Jungle Camp in Calais where asylum seekers reside before attempting to enter the United Kingdom. The photographer highlighted the humanitarian migration crisis that engulfed the continent 5 years ago and decided it’s appropriate and important to remind us of the situation on the 5th anniversary of the demolition of the camp.
Aaron Chown
Cinematic Decline
With Cinematic Decline — a continuation of Butler's 2019 series and book Odeon Relics — the author traces the remnants of what once were brand-new, purpose-built cinema venues, incongruous with their surroundings back then, and some of them are still so even now. The key point of difference here though, is that none of these buildings continue to screen films, instead they showcase the cinematic afterlife bingo, pubs, churches and dereliction.
Philip Butler
Beyond the sea
Great Britain, being an island, is surrounded by water. The outlier of Europe, the Brits have always had a thing for their coastal towns. Bournemouth, Brighton, the Kent coastline, are the ones that come to mind first. The sea is hugely important for many industries — tourism, fishing, transport. Often mocked
Alex Micu
Black Eyed Dog
The author opens up about his own struggles with Black Eyed Dog — A Photographic Healing Process. It was born out of a breakdown, a complete shutdown of his nervous system which made him find himself in a dark, gloomy place, one which he has never visited before.
Benedict Stenning

mnngful Originals

mnngful Members

James Rudoni
UK
,
London

Photography allows me to express myself using the world around me. Things that I would have otherwise ignored take on a new weight and potential. With my curious eye, I am motivated to capture the chaos, weirdness and beauty of our lives.

Roxana Alison
UK
,
Manchester

Mexican-British photographer based in the United Kingdom with a socially driven focus whose work explores themes of place, belonging and identity. The personal experience is often my departure point to explore universal issues concerned with the human condition. Roxana has worked in the fields of photography and education for the past fifteen years and have extensive experience working with young people and underrepresented communities.

Dafna Talmor
UK
,
London

Artist and lecturer based in London whose practice encompasses photography, spatial interventions, curation and collaborations. Her photographs are included in public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Deutsche Bank, Hiscox and in private collections internationally. Her first monograph — Constructed Landscapes - published by Fw:Books was released in October 2020 and longlisted for the 2021 Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Award.

Aaron Chown
UK
,
London

Staff Photographer with The Press Association based in London, the National News Agency for the UK and Ireland an editorial photographer, with a 1st class degree in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from The University of Gloucestershire. Covering features, breaking news, politics, royals & sport.

Verity Adriana
UK
,

Visual artist who uses light, installation and photography to investigate the phenomenology of the metaphysical and existential. She has been a practicing and exhibiting artist for over a decade. Adriana was born in Hull, UK, and grew up around the world wherever her mother found work, including Spain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Adriana returned to Hull independently at the age of 14 to see herself through her final years at school and went onto establish herself in the regional arts community.

Karin van de Wiel
NL
,
Amsterdam

Photographer and journalist focsued on topics of people in relation to place In the absence of bodies, the implied human presence questions the notion of otherness and belonging.

Jan Enkelmann
UK
,
London

Documentary, street and travel photographer He is dividing his time between commercial work and personal projects. Most of Jan’s photography work is concerned with observations of people in public spaces.

jose artur macedo
PT
,
Ponte de Sor

Self-taught photographer, based in Ponte de Sor (PT)

Dylan Halvorsen
ZA
,
Kempton Park, Gauteng

I am a South African based photographer, writer, and graphic designer. I am currently studying a BSc in IT and seeing where it takes me.

Vera Hadzhiyska
UK
,
Portsmouth

Multi-disciplinary artist and curator based in Portsmouth, England. Her practice is informed by the study of migration, cultural and national identity, history and collective memory. Her work begins autobiographically, tracing family narratives and shared traumas. Through the use of photography, archival documents, audio and video installations Hadzhiyska examines historical and political events in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe, their impact on people’s lives and identity.

Fiona Neil
UK
,
Moreton In Marsh

When receiving an old fashioned Canon camera at 16 I realised the power of showing people different perspectives of the world, documenting them with photography. I am passionate and dedicated about producing emotional, resourceful content that can educate and document the world for people.

Timo Knorr
DE
,
Hamburg

Documentary photographer focused on the photographic research of groups that move in a field of tension of the social conflicts of the current time. I am looking for the questions: How do we want to live today, how do we want to eat and how can we make our world a little bit better.

Louis Sartori
UK
,
London

Independent Photojournalist and Writer focusing on matters of cultural obscurity, documenting groups/spaces on the borders of popular recognition.

Nathan Benkemoun
FR
,
Montreuil

Nathan Benkemoun (1983) is a French photographer born in Nice and based in Montreuil (France). In his work, he tries to illustrate how people interact with environment such as nature, cities or open spaces. He also works in making concrete some common human feelings and sensations.

Yassen Grigorov
UK
,
London

Documentary photographer steadily establishing himself as an artist to follow and invest in, both in his home country of Bulgaria and in the United Kingdom, where he's based, having graduated with First Class Honours from the BA Photography course at the University of Westminster. His artwork is consistently featured in a variety of print and online publications and exhibitions, and his most recent project, "Exemplary Home" has won a second-place prize in its category at the prestigious 2020 International Photography Awards, third in the BECA Photography Awards, and has featured in the artist’s first solo show at KO-OP, Sofia.

Stories worth seeing

mnngful is a platform supporting independent documentary photography & photojournalism.

Thanks to passionate storytellers, we learn about matters that otherwise stay neglected. Stories that matter, but have not been covered enough are captured and told by passion-driven photographers and journalists.

They create because they care about the world they live in and tell us about matters beyond our eyesight.Their work is often driven by pure enthusiasm, fuelled by own beliefs and dreams for a better world. That's why such independent work is worth special attention.

mnngful is here to support the meaningful stories they tell.

Read more