West Virginia gave me the opportunity to make a home, make a claim to some     land, choose my tribe,” says photographer Nancy Abrams. She tells the story of her life there in the 70s and 80s in her lively new book,  The Climb From Salt Lick: A Memoir of Appalachia  (West Virginia University Press),     in which she paints a vivid picture of what it was like to make her way in     an unfamiliar territory during a turbulent time in the nation’s history.     The release of the book will be accompanied by the first major exhibition     of her photographs at Rare Nest Gallery in Avondale.



   Her photographs from the 70s and 80s superficially resemble the     Depression-era WPA pictures of Dorothea Lange or Walker Evans in their     depiction of economic want in a remote rural region. But her love for the     landscape and obvious affection for her subjects set her shots apart. While     Abrams is obviously concerned with capturing the trying conditions of life     in coal country, her images don’t come off as loaded or didactic in the way     that this kind of work can sometimes be. As she tells me via e-mail, “I’m a     straight shooter.” She means that her photographs aren’t enhanced or     altered, but I think it also applies to her approach to her subject matter.     She seems to take the people she writes about and photographs at their     word, and makes every effort to give them the benefit of the doubt.



   Vignettes like this one pepper her book and make for an engaging read. She     addresses the class and cultural differences between her and her adopted     home with a light touch and an open heart, but the difficulties of making a     new life in a rugged, sometimes unforgiving landscape are palpable     throughout. She describes how her left-wing politics and middle-class     suburban upbringing made her stand out from her working-class, conservative     neighbors, but takes pains to stress their common struggles over issues     which made them clash, such as Nixon and the Vietnam war, the consolidation     of school districts, and the impact of the coal industry on the region’s     health and economy.

Opening reception Fri 5/18, 5-9 PM; reading Sat 5/19, 1-3 PM, Rare Nest Gallery, 3433 N. Kedvale, 708-616-8671, rarenestgallery.com.  F