Malcolm Wilson's “Appalachian Beautiful”
“Some people will look at these portraits and think it’s about glamour. And sure—there’s beauty in them. But that’s not the point. The point is dignity. The point is control of the narrative. The point is saying, 'You don’t get to tell our story for us anymore.''” — Arletta Adams
By Tom Martin
A new portrait project by Blackey, Kentucky photojournalist Malcolm Wilson draws stylistic inspiration from the classic Hollywood celebrity images of the 1920s and '30s photographed by George Hurrell. More than 60 Appalachian women from all walks of life participated, eager to challenge long-endured tropes and stereotypes. Essays by Wilson and two of those who were photographed, Arletta Adams and Amber Elswick, are featured below. An exhibition of these images began with a red carpet event on May 30 at the Appalachian Artisan Center in Hindman. The exhibit will remain open through July 31. My interview with Malcolm, Amber, and Arletta for WEKU's Eastern Standard can be found at the bottom of the page.
Malcolm Wilson: Why I Did This
“It is an effort to present Appalachian women with dignity, depth, elegance, and humanity while honoring the strength I have witnessed in them throughout my life.” — Malcolm J. Wilson
The resilience and strength of Appalachian women has always captivated me. Both of my grandmothers, or what we call ‘grannies’ in Appalachia, were some of the strongest and capable individuals one could know, yet both showed me unconditional love and care that is characteristic of the women of Appalachia. Born and raised during a time of few resources and no government assistance, both women, Lula Ritchie Vanover and Mattie Ison Wilson, learned to strive in the hardest of times, while still maintaining motherly compassion. Jean Cloise Vanover Wilson, my mother, epitomized that Appalachian Woman strength and love during a two-decade battle with breast cancer. The cancer that eventually took her from us was never strong enough to take away her faith and love for her family. That commitment is shown in my fantastic sister Kateena Wilson Haynes, who is revolutionizing the way we care for children in Appalachia. I also have two brilliant and big-hearted daughters, Malandra Jalyne Hueglin and Jessica Molley Blindt Carpenter, whom I love dearly.
Those women shaped the way I see this region and the people in it.
The idea for “Appalachian Beautiful” began after I watched a series of online interviews and videos created by social media influencers — or, more accurately, social media sensationalists — who portrayed Appalachian women through an exaggerated and deeply stereotypical lens. The women they presented were nothing like the Appalachian women who raised me, the women I grew up around, or the women I have known throughout my life.
Their portrayals felt dishonest and exploitative, reducing complex, resilient people into caricatures designed for clicks and entertainment.
Around the same time, I found myself thinking back to an exhibition of George Hurrell photographs that I saw at the Cincinnati Art Museum while living in Cincinnati during the 1990s. Hurrell, a Cincinnati native who briefly lived in northern Kentucky, became one of Hollywood’s most celebrated photographers from the 1920s through the early 1950s. His portraits of film stars were glamorous, dramatic, and dignified. The exhibition left a lasting impression on me.
Working alongside my intern at the time, Deladis Haywood, I began developing the concept that would eventually become “Appalachian Beautiful.”
We immersed ourselves in Hurrell’s work — first by watching a documentary about his life and photography, then by studying books featuring his portraits and techniques. I became especially interested in the meticulous retouching process used in Hurrell’s studio, including his use of the Adams Retouching Machine, and wondered whether it was possible to recreate that same timeless aesthetic using modern technology while remaining faithful to the technical limitations and artistic style of his era.
At the same time, I began imagining Appalachian women photographed as Hurrell would have photographed the Hollywood stars of his time — not as stereotypes or punchlines, but as luminous, powerful, unforgettable figures worthy of admiration and attention.
That idea became the heart of this project.
“Appalachian Beautiful” is intended as a counter-narrative to the distorted portrayals the social media “un-influencers” put online. It is an effort to present Appalachian women with dignity, depth, elegance, and humanity while honoring the strength I have witnessed in them throughout my life.
This work exists in the tradition of George Hurrell while also standing apart from it. It is rooted not in Hollywood mythology, but in the lived experience, resilience, and beauty of Appalachian women.
— Malcolm J. Wilson
Arletta Adams
“Each woman who steps into this project is saying yes to visibility — on her own terms. Yes to being documented with care. Yes to being represented with intention. Not flattened into something easy to dismiss. That matters because stereotypes don’t just insult. They limit.”
Arletta Adams, SRNA, Healthcare Worker, From Letcher County, Residing in Eubank, Kentucky.
For a long time, I didn’t say where I was from.
Or if I did, I said it carefully — softened it, smoothed it out, made sure it didn’t sound too much like home. I learned how to shift my voice just enough so people wouldn’t hear “Appalachia” and think they already knew everything about me.
Because most of the time, they think they do.
They hear it and fill in the blanks — uneducated, poor, less than. And when you hear that long enough, it settles in. Not all at once, but slowly, quietly, until it starts to feel like something you have to work around.
So I did.
I thought if I sounded different, I’d be seen differently. I thought I could outrun those assumptions.
But what I was really doing … was erasing myself in pieces.
I’m not telling you that because I want this to be all about me. I’m telling you because I know I’m not the only one. And that’s the truth sitting at the center of “Appalachian Beautiful.”
Appalachian women have been reduced to a narrow, loud stereotype for so long that people treat it like fact. And when those images get repeated — online, in jokes, in “content,” in interviews that turn us into something to gawk at — they don’t just shape how outsiders see us. They start shaping how some of us carry ourselves. How we speak. How much of ourselves we let the world hear.
“Appalachian Beautiful” pushes back against that.
Through portraiture inspired by the classic work of George Hurrell — known for elevating Hollywood stars into something larger than life — photographer Malcolm J. Wilson, the creative force behind “Appalachian Beautiful,” reimagines Appalachian women with that same level of care, attention, and respect. The project places women from this region into a visual space where they are not overlooked or misunderstood, but fully seen.
Fully seen. Not as an idea. Not as a punchline. Not as a stereotype people already decided on. As women with real stories — different backgrounds, different struggles, different strengths — standing in the light without being asked to apologize for it.
I chose to be part of that, and for me it was personal. Recovery has a way of forcing honesty — not just about where you’ve been, but about what you believe about yourself. And one of the hardest things I had to admit was this: I wasn’t ashamed because of where I’m from. I was ashamed because I believed what the world said about it.
That shame was never mine to carry.
Where I come from, the women are strong in ways people don’t always recognize. It’s not polished. It’s not something you can package up neatly. It’s real. It’s survival. It’s resilience that shows up whether anyone’s watching or not. That’s what raised me. And for a long time, I hid it. I made myself smaller. Quieter. Easier to accept.
But I’m not doing that anymore.
And the women in this project aren’t doing that anymore either.
Some people will look at these portraits and think it’s about glamour. And sure — there’s beauty in them. But that’s not the point. The point is dignity. The point is control of the narrative. The point is saying, 'You don’t get to tell our story for us anymore.'
Each woman who steps into this project is saying yes to visibility — on her own terms. Yes to being documented with care. Yes to being represented with intention. Not flattened into something easy to dismiss. That matters because stereotypes don’t just insult. They limit. They close doors before you ever reach them. They make you second-guess your own voice before you even speak. That’s what I did. I trained myself to sound less like home because I thought sounding like home made me something less.
It still breaks my heart when I say it that plainly, but it’s true.
And that’s why this project matters — not because it hands us confidence, but because it reminds us we were never supposed to lose it in the first place.
“Appalachian Beautiful” is an answer to a long history of being misunderstood. It’s also an invitation: to look again. To listen again. To hold the complexity instead of reaching for the cliché.
The first public exhibition of “Appalachian Beautiful” opened on May 30 at the Appalachian Artisan Center, inside the historic Young Building at 16 West Main Street in Hindman, Kentucky, and will remain open through July 31.
The portraits and the stories behind them will be gathered in one space — so people can’t scroll past us, can’t reduce us to a clip, can’t skim over the truth. They’ll have to stand there and look.
And here’s what I hope they see: Not perfection. Not performance. Real women.
Amber Elswick
" The stigma says Appalachian women are backward. The truth is we are rooted.. ”
Amber Elswick, Insurance CSR, From Letcher County Residing in Pound, Virginia.