Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article and receive more conversations like this in your inbox each week.
In 2009, Maddie McGarvey first visited 3-year-old Paige Casto and her family in a southeast Ohio town to take photos for a college photography class. Then, for the next 15 years, she returned to document Paige and her family’s life – all the joys of growing up mingled with the pressures of poverty and instability. Maddie’s photos ran recently in the New York Times: “I Photographed an Appalachian Family for 15 Years.” Maddie has spent her career photographing rural Appalachia. She says she wants to bear witness to the struggle and resilience in forgotten pockets of the nation. Enjoy our conversation about her beginnings in photography, the origins of the project with Paige’s family, and knowing when to put the camera down.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Daily Yonder: These photos are incredibly moving. When did you first know you had a gift for photojournalism?
Maddie McGarvey: I remember feeling pretty lost when I was applying for colleges. I had a lot of interest in art, but I was not very good at it. And then I started taking pictures on my Dad’s point and shoot camera, just like the most basic kind of thing you could imagine. And I was really shy just as a kid, but I felt like the camera was a way to meet people and hear their stories, and bridge that gap between my shyness and curiosity.
DY: How did you first meet Paige and her family?
MM: It started as a class assignment. In college I was working on a variety of stories for different classes, the school newspaper, and all kinds of things. I had noticed the trend of grandparents raising their grandchildren, largely due to the opioid crisis. This was 2009. So it was really ravaging Southeast Ohio at that point, and this particular family was not directly affected by it, but their entire community was. So I went to a local social worker in town and just asked if they knew anyone who had this family dynamic with the grandparents raising the grandchildren. And she had the name and number of a grandma, Laura Casto, who was raising her three grandkids. I was 19 at the time, terrified to call. But luckily as soon as I called, she welcomed me with open arms. And just was like, “Come, hang out.” And, you know, as soon as I rolled up, I just felt this connection that you feel sometimes in this line of work, but not often. And I realize now how special it is.
Maddie McGarvey first photographed the Casto family when Paige was a 3-year-old. (Photo by Maddie McGarvey)
DY: When did you make the decision to turn this family’s story into a project?
MM: I don’t think it was a conscious decision. I think it was, I was just drawn to them because they were so open with me. They’re so open with their story and, truly just like, opened their doors to me with open arms. And, I could tell the kids really enjoyed my presence at the time too. Just like, they get really excited. We would go play and search for turtles and flowers and stuff like that. And it just was really special. I don’t have children on my own yet, but watching these kids grow up is the closest thing, I think. So I just felt naturally inclined to keep up with them and keep up with their life. And try to be a consistent adult in their life, too.
I just knew that as long as they would have me there, I would want to be there just to witness their life. I feel like that kind of trust is rare. And I wasn’t going to take it lightly.
DY: How did you balance your photojournalism with your role as a trusted adult in this family’s life? Were there ever times when you had to put the camera down?
MM: The kids, especially like Paige and her brothers, they don’t remember a time I wasn’t in their life taking pictures of them. You know, there have certainly been times where I’ve been with them and I just put the camera down. I’m a human first, and I could recognize, like, this is not the moment.
That’s always, always something I want to check in with, because I never ever want them to feel like they’re being exploited or anything. But I think since I’ve always kind of been there with a camera, it’s just been what we do. It’s always felt pretty natural with them, but I definitely had to learn that over the years and figure out where those lines are.
DY: At the Daily Yonder we talk a lot about representing Appalachia well. How do you think about the region as you’re doing your work?
As a journalist, I never want to do more harm or reinforce these negative stereotypes. Because, again, especially in Appalachia, this is a community in a region that has just been exploited by everyone, so I don’t want to be one more person exploiting them.
There’s always something in my mind when doing these projects, it’s like, how can I most accurately show the situation in the most human and respectful way possible? I think at the end of the day it can open up people’s eyes to some of the issues going on – because truly, I think people are maybe blissfully ignorant to some of the issues going on in just another pocket of Appalachia. I love the idea of awareness through photojournalism, so I want to make sure I’m getting it right. That is very important to me.
DY: What sort of response have you gotten from the story?
MM: I was really blown away by the response. I’ve been able to connect Paige directly with some people who want to help her out and direct a couple foundations who were unaware of these types of communities and how hard it can be. But more than anything, just having people be aware of it. I really respect journalists, colleagues of mine too, who dedicate their time and attention to this region and doing it the right way.
Paige and her fiancé are getting married soon, with McGarvey taking the wedding photos. (Photo by Maddie McGarvey)
DY: Have you heard from Paige and her family about the story?
MM: Paige said that, being able to see the photos throughout her life, it’s shown her what she’s gone through. Like, “Okay, yeah, this has been tough.” But, she also said that she can see the good and the bad, and it’s just – I think she just recognizes it’s nice to have this sort of record: This is how it was.
We have a close relationship, too, and it’s cool to see photos of her when she was three and four and five years old, and how much she’s grown and changed now that she’s 18 and engaged and getting married soon. She was telling me it’s helped her, move through her trauma and realize it was hard, but she got through it, and she can move on with her life.
And I just feel so lucky that she put that trust in me to not only be a witness to her life, but share it, and her being brave enough to share it with the world. I’m just so amazed by her and the young woman she turned into. She’s just really amazing and resilient, and she’s gone through so much that most kids couldn’t even dream of and come out the other end. I’m just really proud of her.
DY: Are you attending her wedding?
MM: Oh yeah, I’m photographing it. Of course I’ll be there!
This interview first appeared in Path Finders, a weekly email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each Monday, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Join the mailing list today, to have these illuminating conversations delivered straight to your inbox.
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The post Q&A: The Photographer Documenting Appalachian Poverty, And Resilience appeared first on The Daily Yonder.
