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By all appearances, Chris Aluka Berry is white. That’s only germane when you consider the thrust of his documentary photography, which he’s devoted to telling the living stories of Black, migrant and marginalized Appalachians.
His intimate photos from within Black communities are collected in his first book, Affrilachia: Testimonies. More than 100 photos are interspersed with poetry, along with Berry’s personal observations through the six years he spent making photos in the pockets of Black communities in Western North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
A handful of these photos are on view in the upstairs gallery of the Madison County Arts Council building in downtown Marshall. I spoke with Aluka on the floor of the exhibition.