SARAH DECKER
Marshall. After the Flood.

Marshall, like so many mountain towns, was totally destroyed by the Appalachian apocalypse caused by Hurricane Helene. The abrupt change that followed was a total upheaval of life and we are forever changed. Deeply embedded in this place and our community, we all collectively lost our central heart the day the flood filled the buildings like fish bowls. Everything we loved and worked so hard for was destroyed and swept away. I wanted to capture these wild times in a tintype time capsule, using similar technology from when the infamous 1916 flood tore through town. These quiet moments showcase what we are proud of today, capturing images of newer business owners right alongside folks in a long lineage of those that have held these spaces in this river town for generations. My portraits, like modern occupational tintypes, capture the artists, musicians, makers, dreamers and workers that stepped up to save our town – all essential to the heart of Marshall.

Author
Sarah Jones Decker is a farmer, photographer, writer and outdoorswoman based in North Carolina. She has her MFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art & Design and a BA in Journalism and a minor in Creative Writing from Virginia Tech. Sarah and her husband own an organic farm in Marshall, NC.

Website
Sarahjonesdecker.com

Instagram
@sarahjonesdecker @paintcreektintypes

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