I moved to West Virginia in 2014. I came from the city - I was born in Miami, I lived in Brooklyn. I moved home, outside of Paw Paw, into a house with no running water, and a history that was written in the evidence of the old oak boards lovingly raised around the painted plywood floors. I learned how to grow my food. I learned how to leave my doors unlocked. I learned how to heat a house with wood. I learned the silence of ice and snow. I watched four winters pass, and five summers abundance. I listened to my elders, I became enriched by their stories, by their music, by their lives. I watched trees that grew bigger, and heard the piercing crack of trees that fell. I picked up bones along the way. I squished mushrooms between my fingers and went on walks and learned the trees. I killed a deer and felt its warm insides, and fed myself generously. I learned that neighbors are family. I built my own darkroom at a neighbor's farm. I removed myself and I gained myself. I photographed everything. These photographs are an ongoing project, the faces and places, my friends and loved ones, in their natural habitat of home.
Lisa Elmaleh Photography
Lisa Elmaleh, 1984, USA, lives in West Virginia, and is a photographer who uses an 8x10 large format camera, the wet plate collodion process, and travels the country in a red pickup truck working in the Everglades and Appalachia.