Boasting tall mountains and taller tales, the High Country region in North Carolina has inspired a rare breed of characters, from rugged individualists to society queens.

In between lies a rich vein of history - how this beautiful, rugged landscape shaped communities, and how people worked the land to make it their own. Some stories are legend; others tell of the simple things: love, family, faith … and hard work.

In a region celebrated for its natural beauty, the human landscape holds stories of lasting worth.

Meet the Team

The Carolina Photojournalism Workshop (CPJW) was founded in 2004. Each year UNC photojournalism students travel to a unique part of our state to produce a documentary website in a week. In the tenth annual CPJW, our students found captivating people with riveting tales.