ANNIE FLANAGAN photography

▲ The Girl Outside the Crystal City Hard Hat // North Adams, MA // March 2012

▲ “Real Bill” / Mountain View: Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Vernon, Vermont / February 25, 2012

▲ Protest / Vermont Yankee, Vernon, Vermont / February 25, 2012

▲ Orange Cattle / Vernon, Vermont/ February 25, 2012

▲ Softened Fence / Vernon, Vermont/ February 25, 2012

Vernon, Vermont is home to Vermont Yankee, a nuclear power plant that is the cause of much tension in Vernon and the surrounding communities. Nuclear power is a controversial debate that becomes increasingly more complex when you bring it down to a local level and explore the communities that it effects. If the plant continues to operate, some are troubled by the environmental impacts. In regards to the controversial court case surrounding Vermont Yankee, some are concerned with the federal government’s ability to override the state government’s decision. Others have apprehensions with the stability and future of Vernon and the surrounding communities if Vermont Yankee is to close. Regardless of ones stance on the issue, there are stories to share and barriers to break down.

This weekend a team of photographers and I joined with photojournalist Michael Forester-Rothbart, Vermont Center for Photography and the Insight Photography Project to document life in Vernon. We photographed and interviewed members of the community and during our research and interviews, it became evident that some Vernon residents feel other can not understand Vernon beyond Vermont Yankee. With some working through the night and a couple of us working down to the wire, in just 24 hours we created a multimedia piece. We presented this piece at an open forum, led by Michael Forester-Rothbart at Vermont Center for Photography.

▲  Softened Barbed Wire Fence / Vernon, Vermont/ February 25, 2012

▲ Orange Cattle / Vernon, Vermont/ February 25, 2012