Roger May is an Appalachian American photographer and writer based in Alum Creek, West Virginia. He is the Director of Artistic Programs for Appalshop. He was born in the Tug River Valley on the West Virginia and Kentucky border, in the heart of Hatfield and McCoy country. His work explores the complicated history of place, faith, and identity in the coalfields. In 2014, he founded the crowdsourced Looking at Appalachia project. He lectures about his work and about the visual representation of Appalachia.
Selected Publications
Los Angeles Times
Boston Globe
Harper’s
The Guardian
Wall Street Journal
The Atlantic
Washington Post
New York Times
National Geographic
Bloomberg Business Week
Oxford American
Le Monde diplomatique
Huffington Post
Bitter Southerner
Politico
Books
Testify: A Visual Love Letter to Appalachia. Horse and Buggy Press (Durham). 2014
Miner Pride. Self-published, edition of 25. 2014
Exhibits
2024 - I know you have been here. University of Pikeville, Pikeville, Kentucky
2018 - How to Get Home Again, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
2018 - How to Get Home Again, University of Pikeville, Pikeville, Kentucky
2018 - How to Get Home Again, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia
2017 - How to Get Home Again, Clarion University, Clarion, Pennsylvania
2016 - How to Get Home Again, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, Georgia
2016 - Being of These Hills, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee
2015 - Being of These Hills, Berea College, Berea, Kentucky
Group Exhibits
2023/24 - Southern Cultures: Snapshot Climate, Center for the Study of the American South, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
2019 - Juliet Art Museum Invitational, The Clay Center, Charleston, West Virginia
2017 - Beyond Coal, The Armory Gallery, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
2016 - Southern Icons, A to Z, (A is for Appalachia) SlowExposures, Pike County, Georgia
2015 - Looking at Appalachia, traveling exhibit
2014 - Picture Books: Featuring a Survey of Documentary Styles in Early 21st Century Photobooks From The Indie Photobook Library, Power Plant Gallery, Durham, North Carolina
Public Collections
Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Telfair Museums, Jepson Center, Savannah, Georgia
West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia
Private Collections
Cassilhaus, North Carolina
Visiting Artist Lectures
American University, Washington, DC
Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina
Berea College, Berea, Kentucky
Boston College, Newton, Massachusetts
Catawba College, Salisbury, North Carolina
Clarion University, Clarion, Pennsylvania
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
Radford University, Radford, Virginia
Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, West Virginia
University of Charleston, Charleston, West Virginia
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
University of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville, North Carolina
University of Pikeville, Pikeville, Kentucky
University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia
West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia
Teaching
Can Docs for Social Change Really Make a Difference? (With Joy Salyers), Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
Documenting Appalachia, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
Home: Documenting Place, The Makery at Hindman Settlement School