Hillbilly Heroin, Honey

Hannah Modigh
Hillbilly Heroin, Honey
Photographs: Hannah Modigh
Publisher: Journal
172 pages
Year: 2010
ISBN: 978-9197696609
Comments: Hardcover, 23,5 x 24,9, b&w and color photographs. First edition, limited to 1500 copies. Traces of use on the cover, in very good condition.
"The photos were shot in a dying coal-mining town called St Charles, situated in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains in the USA, hidden by the fog. The mines have been closed down, one by one, and with them work opportunities needed for the survival of the community have disappeared. The use of OxyContin, a painkiller that has the side effect of killing all feelings, is more common in St Charles than anywhere else in the USA (according to local press at that time 2006). The drug is locally called “hillbilly heroin”. If consumed in big quantities, its effects are reminiscent of those caused by heroine.
This was my first bigger photo series I conducted and for me tacking pictures and coming close to the people I meet there affected me greatly, it became my heroin. That is the reason for the title.
I mostly photographed young men. Expectations on them as providers and macho men in a society where there is no work made their expression stronger. I wanted to portray their innocence against the background of the brutal reality in which they lived. I want my pictures to leave the feeling of vacuum and timelessness that hit me during my time in St Charles. I do not focus on the poverty, the drugs or the society problems. The crack in the soul is more important than the one on the wall.
I want people to be mentally exhausted by seeing all these shut in feelings. I also felt strongly for the people and the love for the mountains, that was beautiful. I attach great importance to how body posters and body’s movements are. What I’m particularly attracted to is subtle small searching movements. Cautious little hidden movements fascinate me. Postures and facial expressions that bear witness to the feelings that are not allowed to run free"
- Hannah Modigh
Hillbilly Heroin, Honey is the winner of The Swedish Photo Book Award 2010. Statement of the jury: 'A strong, courageous and at the same time humble depiction of a for many of us unknown world. With help of a sensitive graphic design the photographer takes us beyond exotism and transform the coal dust into gold.'




















more books by Hannah Modigh
more books tagged »miner« | >> see all
-
Sakebi (WITH OBI)
by Masato Kudo
sold -
BORINAGE - 1959
by Jeanloup Sieff
sold -
Journal des Mines (SIGNED AND NUMBERED, edt of 50)
by Elie Monferier
sold -
industrial zone
by Dolf Toussaint
Euro 120
more books tagged »drugs« | >> see all
-
Cocaine true Cocaine blue
by Eugene Richards
sold -
Spiral Baby (Signed)
by Seana Gavin
sold -
Close your eyes (SIGNED)
by Gareth McConnell
sold -
Needle of Death : An Addict's Day & an Examination of the Brit...
by MJ Delaney
sold -
Kensington Blues
by Jeffrey Stockbridge
Euro 100 -
Don't Cry Tonight (Signed and numbered, edt of 200)
by Dana Lauren Goldstein
sold
more books tagged »journal« | >> see all
-
Stone Butterfly (signed)
by Cristina Ferraiuolo
sold -
Var finns alla polarna? / Where have all my friends gone ? (SI...
by Per Björn
sold -
Of fading memories (SIGNED)
by Erhan Can akbulut
Euro 50 -
The Young Ones (SIGNED) (Back in stock!)
by Simon Johansson
sold -
NO MAN'S LAND (SIGNED)
by Simon Johansson
Euro 40 -
Fast Cities
by Morten Andersen
Euro 40
more books tagged »poverty« | >> see all
-
Home Among Black Hills
by Jens Olof Lasthein
sold -
YODO HITO (Signed Ltd of 200)
by George Booth Cole
Euro 30 -
Open See
by Jim Goldberg
sold -
THE BOWERY
by Michael D. Zettler
sold -
L'EUROPE ... DE L'AUTRE COTE DES ETOILES / EUROPE... ON THE DA...
by Collective
sold -
PANIK BLÜTE - Bitterfeld-Report
by Collective
sold
more books tagged »usa« | >> see all
-
Whispering hope (SIGNED)
by Chikara Umihara
sold -
Deana Lawson
by Deana Lawson
sold -
LBM Dispatch n°1 : Ohio
by Alec Soth & Brad Zellar
sold -
American Roulette
by Shinya Fujiwara
sold -
PARIS, TEXAS
by Wim Wenders
sold -
Lacy, Never Fade Your Star (The International issue #5 autumn)
by Valerie Phillips
sold
more books tagged »swedish« | >> see all
-
Öglunda (SIGNED)
by Gerry Johansson
sold -
A FAMILIAR PLACE (SIGNED)
by Simon Johansson
Euro 40 -
A Summer Of A Thousand Years (Edt 350, signed and numbered)
by Martin Bogren
sold -
Lux
by Krister Hägglund
Euro 45 -
Bright hours
by Karl Henrik Edlund
Euro 50 -
Hollow (Signed and numbered with a signed print)
by Martin Bogren
sold
Books from the Virtual Bookshelf josefchladek.com