17th Annual Mountain Photography Competition

J. Scott Graham

It is difficult to picture the Southern Appalachians without seeing one of J. Scott Graham’s iconic images. For three decades, Graham’s legendary photographs of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park have helped define these two beloved sites for millions of visitors. Scott works with many state parks, national forests, national historic sites, tourist attractions, and resorts throughout the country to create an array of products for their gift shops and retail outlets. Celebrated as one of America’s finest photographers, Scott has also become one of the country’s most commercially successful artists. From calendars and coffee table books to puzzles and postcards, the J. Scott Graham brand is sold throughout the United States and in the Caribbean. Scott resides in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Joan Brook

Joan Brook is a professional documentary photographer and adjunct professor in the Department of Art in Commercial Photography at Appalachian State University. She believes that photography plays a central role in forming our narratives of identity and space. Her photography focuses on walls and borders at the Texas/Mexico border and in Nepal. She has also documented the reconstruction of a Himalayan village demolished by the effects of climate change and on the historical graffiti art in Austin Texas.

A Texas certified photographer, her work has been featured at group gallery exhibitions, including the Texas Photographic Society, Austin Community College, and Black and White at A. Smith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas. Brook holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy of Interdisciplinary Studies from Miami University, an MA in Education from the University of North Texas, and an MAT in Teaching Biological Studies from Miami University.

Erin Durham

Erin Durham graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Commercial Photography in 2016 As an emerging professional, Durham has worked with various non-profit organizations in the United States, Africa and Italy and has traveled extensively. She uses her photography to shed light on lesser-known topics with a hope to inspire others to make a difference. This is illustrated in one of her current projects in which she is using her research and photography to highlight issues faced by people with albinism in East Africa. In addition to her work in community outreach and as an installation assistant at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, she is working on a collaborative project to create a full-length documentary film about 90 year-old visual artist Frank Hursh, one of few remaining students of Black Mountain College. Erin is continuously immersed in the world of art and is inspired by the relationship between the classic ideas of art and photography.