BOONE, N.C. — Jesse Barber '24, an alumnus of the Appalachian studies program, has been a key documentarian in media efforts to cover the stories Western North Carolina mountain communities after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. His photography, writing and an interview on his personal reflections of the weeks following the storm have been featured in publications including The New York Times, Washington Post and Southern Living.
As detailed in a piece in Southern Living, Barber drove over 1,000 miles in three days to visit communities across the North Carolina mountains, including Rutherfordton, Swannanoa, Lansing, Marion, North Cove and Rosman. In all of these places, he interacted with community members working to navigate the trauma and destruction of Helene. Yet, it was the innumerable stories of strength and resilience that guided Barber’s lens and prompted him to showcase the grassroots efforts to rebuild and sustain regional communities.
“I’m not equipped for ‘bam, bam, here are your destruction shots’ and I’m out,” Barber said in an interview with Southern Living, “I’m trying to experience and listen and see the people I’m engaging with. And the sense of place is so important.”
In documenting the complex and often overlooked reality of regional communities, Barber acknowledges that his work is deeply personal. During the storm, he experienced the flooding firsthand in the basement of his home prior to venturing out on assignment. Navigating his own experiences, while documenting those of his neighbors in the region, prompted Barber to reshape the stories told by his photography. Ultimately leading him to document, as he told Southern Living, the experience of “what I was seeing and feeling as a local resident.”
Supply runners check out a washed out road in Ashe County. Photo by Barber
Junior Seatz, the fire chief of Creston Fire Department, in Creston, NC, on October 3. All day for the past eight days, Junior has been standing in this spot answering a barrage of questions, giving directions, keeping lists of items needed, sending crews out to specific communities in need, answering his phone and radio and trying to get a bite to eat somewhere in between. Photo by Barber
As a graduate student at Appalachian, Barber honed his skills as a photographer, filmmaker and oral historian through South Arts’ "In These Mountains" folklife documentation project, hosted through the Center for Appalachian Studies, in partnership with AppDocs in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. He has continued his work at the University in a part-time position with University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center's Oral History Program.
A mangled car in the river near Bat Cave, NC. Photo by Barber
Eric Farmer burns a pile of debris at his destroyed home along the North Fork New River in Creston, NC on October 15. Farmers dad had built the house in 1965. Three hours before a mobile home came floating down the river that took out his home, Farmer and his wife had evacuated to higher ground to escape the rising flood waters. By his estimate the water rose 23 feet, taking 25 feet of riverfront property with it that used to be his backyard. Farmer didn’t have flood insurance that was priced at $1,900 a month for his home. He plans to rebuild and continue to live here. Photo by Barber
Barber’s western North Carolina roots in Caldwell County are foundational to his approach to stories about Appalachia, a region whose portrayal in media has historically leaned on stereotypes and narratives of impoverished despair. Transcending these, Barber acknowledges that his work relies on “understanding of the nuanced perspective in small communities...to expand our understanding of how religion, labor and history intersect with the land today.”
A Christmas tree stands in the rubble where Kim and Rod Ashby’s home once stood along the Elk River near Elk Park. Kim and Rod were separated in the floodwaters the day of the flood with Rod escaping to the bank a few miles down river. Kim has yet to be found. Photo by Barber
To view more of Barber's work, visit his website at jesse-barber.com.
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About the Center for Appalachian Studies
The Center for Appalachian Studies promotes public programs, community collaboration, civic engagement and scholarship on the Appalachian region. The center is committed to building healthy communities and deepening knowledge of Appalachia’s past, present and future through community-based research and engagement. Learn more at appcenter.appstate.edu.
About the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies
The Department of Interdisciplinary Studies offers graduate and undergraduate degrees in four program areas: Appalachian studies; gender, women’s and sexuality studies; global studies; and interdisciplinary studies. The department is also home to Watauga Residential College, an interdisciplinary, alternative general education program. The department promotes creative and imaginative engagement through a cross-disciplinary investigation of complex systems and problems. Learn more at interdisciplinary.appstate.edu.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at cas.appstate.edu.
Written by Trevor McKenzie
Edited by Lauren Gibbs
January 10, 2025
BOONE, N.C.
Jesse Barber '24, an alumnus of the Appalachian studies program, photographed in October 2024. Photo courtesy of Barber (jesse-barber.com)
Jesse Barber '24, an alumnus of the Appalachian studies program, photographed in October 2024. Photo courtesy of Barber (jesse-barber.com)