How Did Jeff Rich Turn Environmental Crises into Compelling Visual Stories?
Welcome to this edition of [book spotlight]. Today, we uncover the layers of 'Watershed: The Tennessee River,' by Jeff Rich (published by Fall Line Press). We'd love to read your comments below about these insights and ideas behind the artist's work.
Imagine growing up on Florida’s “Space Coast,” where rockets soared overhead, and the rapid pace of development was almost as relentless as the ocean waves. This was Jeff Rich’s childhood, a place where he witnessed firsthand the toll that progress can take on the environment. Picture this: swimming in a river turned dark green from algae blooms, not realizing at the time it was a side effect of over-fertilized lawns and unchecked pollution. It’s these early experiences that ignited Jeff’s passion for photography, especially when it came to environmental themes.
“There are definitely photographs where I’d like to cause people to reconsider their role as consumers. To begin to ask themselves questions on everything from their everyday decisions like their power consumption, to the elected officials they decide to support.” - Jeff Rich
Fast forward to his college days, Jeff’s interest in photography grew into a tool for activism. He started to document the very issues that had troubled him as a child, using his camera to tell stories about habitat loss and water pollution. His journey led him to the French Broad River, where he began his Watershed Project, focusing on the intricate dance between land use, pollution, and efforts to mitigate environmental damage. When a catastrophic coal ash spill hit the Tennessee River in 2008, Jeff knew he had found the next chapter of his story.
General Interest: Can you share with us what initially sparked your interest in photography, particularly focusing on environmental themes?
I grew up on the east coast of Florida, in a place called the "Space Coast", and overdevelopment was always a big problem. Issues like habitat loss, species extirpation, and water pollution were thought of as the cost of progress. I remember swimming in dark green (algae laden) water as a kid that was caused (I found out later) by our national obsession with perfect lawns, and the resulting overuse of fertilizers. In undergrad I became interested in photography and as I got better at it I started documenting environmental issues, and as I researched and photographed I learned more and more about how we can manage some of these issues, and it just made me want learn more, which led to more photographs.
Project Genesis: What led you to start the "Watershed: The Tennessee River" project, and why did you choose this specific river and its surrounding areas as your subject?
The project is a continuation of my previous project "Watershed: The French Broad River." That project looked at the rivers in Western North Carolina, and the land use and pollution of the waterways. It also examined some of the attempts to mitigate that pollution and educate and engage the public about these issues. The French Broad feeds into the Tennessee as one of its tributaries, so at the time it seemed like the logical next step. However I was overwhelmed by the size of the Tennessee Watershed, and didn't start the project until the Kingston/Harriman Coal ash spill in December 2008.
Personal Connection: Is there a personal story or connection that drew you to focus on the Tennessee River and the environmental issues it faces?
I became interested when there was a massive coal ash spill in the cities of Kingston and Harriman Tennessee. I documented the effects of that spill early in 2009. As I was shooting I realized how vast the TVA's system was, and it's enormous affect on the landscape and people of the region.
Photographic Challenges: Capturing the essence of environmental change is challenging. Can you describe some of the difficulties you faced while documenting the Tennessee River Watershed and how you overcame them?
The region was much larger than my previous project. Covering almost all of Tennessee, as well as parts of Virginia, Georgia, Alabama. Mississippi and Kentucky. This required a much more research intensive approach. There were also many more issues in terms of land use, and heavy pollution, such as the legacy pollution at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is where most of the research and plutonium production for the Manhattan Project took place. Access to sites like these is extremely restricted.
To solve issues like these I had to research access points and locations which would produce a photograph that would tell the story. There was a fair amount of trial and error in this process. The most restricted sites involved a lot of driving around, searching for the right locations and angles (I had a couple run-ins with authorities during the project.) Because of these challenges, the project took much longer than expected, but in the end that was part of the solution: historical research when I couldn't access a location led to more discoveries, and patience and perseverance when I was out photographing led to better understanding of the place itself.
Intended Impact: What impact do you hope your work will have on your audience and the broader conversation about water issues and environmental sustainability?
I'd like the audience to understand the complexities of managing such a large watershed and the underlying motivations for the New Deal government to take on the project through the creation of TVA: Flood control, resource management, power production, and economic development. Examining these motivations in the context of the resulting cost on the landscape and rivers, legacy pollution, habitat destruction, among other things.
Audience Engagement: How do you want your viewers to respond after seeing your photographs? Is there a particular feeling or action you aim to evoke?
There are definitely photographs where I’d like to cause people to reconsider their role as consumers. To begin to ask themselves questions on everything from their everyday decisions like their power consumption, to the elected officials they decide to support. However my work is only the start of the conversation on many of these issues. The polarization of the population, and the politicization of environmental issues in the United States has made it difficult to break through the rhetoric. I’d like the work to inspire something larger but at the same time more subtle in people, by seeing the TVA as a vast environmental and social experiment, something that by it's very nature, has many inherent contradictions. This watershed system and several of the adjacent systems are among the oldest on the planet (at least 250 million years old.) For a system that has survived and evolved over that time span, is our control and exploitation of this system just the ultimate expression of hubris?
Archival vs. Contemporary: Your project incorporates both archival photography and contemporary shots. How do you see the relationship between these two aspects, and what do you believe they each add to the narrative of the Tennessee River?
The inclusion of the archival photographs was to provide some context for the creation of the TVA: Images of flooding and deforestation as well as the extreme poverty of the region as well as the benefits of electricity were often documented by photographers working for the New Deal Government to justify the creation of the TVA. I also included photographs from the early history of the TVA which is intended to show the early idealism and diversity of vision of the project (power production, flood control, recreation etc), in contrast to their later hyper focus on the production of electricity.
Sustainable Future: "Watershed" also looks at the sustainable future of the river basin. Could you elaborate on some of the remediation projects you documented and their significance to the region's ecology?
I mostly focused on the reintroduction of native species such as the Hellbender (A large salamander) and several species of Freshwater Mussels. There are several hatcheries in the region which breed or rehabilitate these endangered species and then reintroduce them into the wild. These species are both essential to the ecology of the rivers and streams in the region. Mussels in particular are filter feeders and the help purify the water and serve as a food source for many larger species.
Future Projects: Now that "Watershed: The Tennessee River" is complete, are there new themes or regions you are interested in exploring in your future projects? How do you see your work evolving in response to current environmental concerns?
I'm currently working on a couple projects.
Over the past several years, I've been documenting some of the headwater streams and rivers of the Mississippi Watershed in the western states of the US, which will ultimately be part of The Watershed Project.
This past winter I also started documenting rivers and environmental issues in Montana, The project looks at our continued use of fossil fuels in the supply chain as well as energy production. I'm also interested in legacy pollution in the state, caused by decades of resource extraction. Montana has 17 Superfund sites, and hundreds of brownfield sites from the past 150 years of exploitation of its natural resources.
To discover more about this intriguing body of work and how you can acquire your own copy, you can find and purchase the book here. (Fall Line Press, Amazon)
Jeff Rich
Jeff Rich is an accomplished photographer whose work predominantly explores water-related issues in various regions of the United States, focusing on themes ranging from sustainability to exploitation. He holds an MFA in photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has exhibited his work globally. Rich’s photographs are part of numerous public and private collections, including those of the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the High Museum of Art. In addition to his personal projects, he curates the series Eyes on the South for Oxford American Magazine. (Instagram, Website)
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