Sam Brown's Appalachian love letter

"My name is Sam Brown and I am an artist at home in the Appalachian Mountains. When I am not out in nature or at a seasonal job you can find me in my basement, turning silver into gold under an amber light.

I have been exploring photography as an art form with and without a camera for over half of my life and as time passes my pursuits continue to regress technologically into some of the craft’s most simple and accessible forms. I am currently in the stage of art where I find most of its value in the experience of process. I also take great joy in making use of equipment with previous lives and I frequently cobble together new photographic contraptions from old ones. Some of my favorite such Frankensteinian exploits are the #appalachianboxcamera and my modified UV enlarger. I hope to one day teach at a community art center that I have founded and built, so if you would like to give me lots of money to do that please get in touch."

Instagram: @sambrownsaround

A/A: How do you choose your subject matter for your work?

SB: Increasingly, my subject matter has been people in my local community. I truly feel that it is important to have physical photos of the ones you love and I want to help provide that to people where I live.

A/A: What got you interested in alternative photography?

SB: I became interested in alternative photography after I started doing wood fired ceramics. The chemistry involved in mixing and firing glazes tickled my science bone and working so hard for so long only to leave it up to the fire really helped squash my perfectionist tendencies. I started playing (safely) a little more in the darkroom with the chemistry and was less in search of the ‘perfect print’. Now I can’t stop. Help! (don’t)

A/A: Please tell us more about the photo center you founded.

SB: I think my joke at the end of my bio did not land very well. I wish I had a center for teaching, but alas, it is only a pipe dream. One day maybe!

A/A: That's my dream too, Sam! Maybe one day ...