Documentary Photography
Coeburn, VA
When Anna Mullins was growing up, her dad carried his camera everywhere, teaching her to “make a camera my companion as well.” After raising her family, Anna began to devote more time to photography. She found a mentor in eastern Kentucky-based photographer Malcom J. Wilson, whose Humans of Central Appalachia project implores viewers who want an honest story about Appalachia to “ask an Appalachian,” and pairs portraits with quotes from residents of central Appalachia. Anna’s work follows in this vein, focusing on what she calls “real Appalachia.” Her work in the region, documenting its culture and peoples, connects on a raw, intimate and heartfelt level.
Anna herself is a caregiver to her husband, Sean, who lives and manages mental illness and panic attacks. She photographs him both during good moments and while she’s helping him through the throes of a mental episode, to make visible the invisible struggle mental illness inflicts on so many. “I feel like the stigma around mental illness is so embedded in our culture and in our language, and how we perceive people,” Anna said, “and I feel as a photographer, I have an eye that can expose not just the horrible and tragic, but also the hopeful moments.”
Anna received a Tradition Bearers Fellowship in April 2023 from the Greater Bristol Folk Arts & Culture Team, supported by Central Appalachia Traditions, Mid Atlantic Arts. Anna will be in the Appalachian Traditions tent in the Virginia Folklife Area on Saturday, October 14 and Sunday, October 15.