Lisa Flanary is an Associate Professor of Photography at Carson-Newman University where she has taught since 1998. As a fine art photographer she primarily uses the 4x5 and medium format cameras. Lisa’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the country. She earned an MFA from East Tennessee State University and a BA in History from Carson-Newman University.

In East Tennessee
These photographs were made in the eastern third of Tennessee. It is culturally and geographically part of Appalachia. Here modern life and the traditions of the early Scots-Irish settlers often intertwine. Reality and irony are everywhere we look. Children play in the backyard and there is a castle down the road. A bluegrass band stands on the street in downtown Knoxville. Evangelicals speak of heaven and hell and want to save our souls because the reapers are coming and there is a feast with the beasts. The local chiropractor wants to fix our bodies and advertises this with an enormous spine on display. Angels are everywhere and the Waffle House stands like a beacon on a hill. This is East Tennessee and the people who live here wouldn’t have it any other way.