At 40 years old, wrestler Chris Michaels, of Franklin, Ky., still considers his life to be “pretty much neck and neck with being a rock star.” The father of three believes he’s at the peak of his career, and shows no signs of stopping. “It’s all smoke and mirrors and flashing lights,” says Michaels, “but I try to live that illusion, like I’m surrounded by women and partying all the time. Sometimes though I wish I was normal.”
by Danny Guy
Amanda Day, a single mother of three, struggles to raise her children Killian, 14, Zane, 12, and Aiyana 11 who are all on the Autism Spectrum. Physically, the Day children are considered normal but each of them has an array of sensory and developmental disorders that hinder them from interacting with the world around them. Though her children’s autism is trying on Amanda’s daily life, it is their love for one another, she says, that always keeps them moving forward.
By: Katie McLean
Each Thursday, WKU’s Student Chapter of NPPA brings you some of the best images of the past week taken by our very own classmates. To submit for our weekly posts, you must currently be a WKU Photojournalism student and have taken the images or produced the video within the last week (Tuesday to Tuesday). Send your top 1-5 selections to wkunppa@gmail.com by our Tuesday 6:30pm deadline and our officers and attendees will pick the best of the bunch to showcase at our open meetings every Tuesday at 7pm in Lab 127.
“What was our life like? I almost don’t remember now. Though I remember it, the space of time it occupied.” -Richard Ford. ERIC SHEA
“Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.” -Albert Camus. ERIC SHEA
Harlie Bryant (7) is cheered on while dancing before the WKU volleyball match against South Alabama on Friday, November 15 at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. Bryant was diagnosed with Astrocytoma, a type of brain cancer, on April 1, 2011. In the fall of 2012, she began to hang out with the volleyball team. Now, she is treated as if she were one of their own teammates. Before each match, Bryant dances in the locker room with the team while they prepare to play. KREABLE YOUNG
Harlie Bryant (7) is surrounded by the WKU Volleyball team before their match against Georgia State on Wednesday, November 13 at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. KREABLE YOUNG
Jon and Amy Jessup, who began dating each other when they were 16, discuss Amy’s cancer treatment which is scheduled for the following day while holding two of their 7 children. Amy recently learned she has thyroid cancer and has chosen to take holistic healing path. “Originally I only wanted one child that I would just adopt,” said Amy, “but now I can’t imagine not having all these children, these best friends of mine.” DANNY GUY
A nun is defined as a woman who is a member of a religious order, especially one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are 21st century queer nuns. They live with modified vows of traditional nuns and raise awareness for LGBT organizations.
Each Thursday, WKU’s Student Chapter of NPPA brings you some of the best images of the past week taken by our very own classmates. To submit for our weekly posts, you must currently be a WKU Photojournalism student and have taken the images or produced the video within the last week (Tuesday to Tuesday). Send your top 1-5 selections to wkunppa@gmail.com by our Tuesday 6:30pm deadline and our officers and attendees will pick the best of the bunch to showcase at our open meetings every Tuesday at 7pm in Lab 127.
Hilliard Darby senior running back Hunter McSweeney is hoisted into the air as he celebrates with teammates and fans after a football game at Hilliard Darby High School in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, Nov. 01, 2013. JABIN BOTSFORD
WKU junior John Reynolds rides in a homemade “chariot” for the Red Bull Chariot Race on November 7, 2013. Reynolds teammates Jamaque Newberry (right) and Spencer Orlowski (left) pull their chariot consisting of a rolling chair and crutches. Justin Gilliland
Fall colors show on a tree reflected in a puddle on a basketball court at Hannah Park in Gahanna, Ohio on Sunday, Nov. 03, 2013. JABIN BOTSFORD
With the use of a trick using the Canon 200-400 lens, a double exposure of Maine South quarterback Brian Collis throwing the ball is seen during the second quarter of the game at Oak Park and River Forest High School on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 in Chicago.. ADAM WOLFFBRANDT
Each Thursday, WKU’s Student Chapter of NPPA brings you some of the best images of the past week taken by our very own classmates. To submit for our weekly posts, you must currently be a WKU Photojournalism student and have taken the images or produced the video within the last week (Tuesday to Tuesday). Send your top 1-5 selections to wkunppa@gmail.com by our Tuesday 6:30pm deadline and our officers and attendees will pick the best of the bunch to showcase at our open meetings every Tuesday at 7pm in Lab 127.
Kristin Smith, of Bowling Green, Ky., poses during a Halloween screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Capitol Arts Center, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, in Bowling Green, Ky. ERIC SHEA
Richard Wyatt, left, and Joseph Gullett, center right, of Scottsville, Ky., lunge at runners trying to pass through a wooden shack filled with smoke at the KY Zombie Mud Run held at Skeleton’s Lair in Settle, Ky., on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013. The two were dressed as zombies and are close friends who have been working at Skeleton’s Lair for the last five years. DANNY GUY
Nick Reisaner carries his son Caleb, 6, as he runs from Jillian Kenney, of Bowling Green, Ky., at the KY Zombie Mud Run at Skeleton’s Lair in Settle, Ky., on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013. “I do this to scare people until they pee themselves,” said Kenney. DANNY GUY
A woman referred to as ‘Ms. Ann,’ a regular at Shake Rag Salon in Bowling Green, Ky., takes a nap under a hair dryer as she receives a relaxing treatment on her hair. BRITTANY GREESON
People make their way across East Madison Street as others board the train at the Madison/Wabash CTA station on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013 in Chicago. ADAM WOLFFBRANDT
Alexander Celestian makes etchings into the red top pavement while waiting to return to the playground at McNeill Elementary in Bowling Green, Ky., on November 5, 2013. JUSTIN GILLILAND
WKU defends against Georgia State in the 4th quarter. WKU won 44-28 against Georgia State at the Georgia Dome on Nov. 02, 2013. JEFF BROWN
Cindy Martin, 26, Florence, Ky, rests against the wall of the Capitol Arts building after the annual Halloween screening of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’. Martin is seeking a graduate’s degree in Sociology from Western Kentucky University and saw the event as a way to ‘let loose and blow off steam.’ RAE EMARY
Each Thursday, WKU’s Student Chapter of NPPA brings you some of the best images of the past week taken by our very own classmates. To submit for our weekly posts, you must currently be a WKU Photojournalism student and have taken the images or produced the video within the last week (Tuesday to Tuesday). Send your top 1-5 selections to wkunppa@gmail.com by our Tuesday 6:30pm deadline and our officers and attendees will pick the best of the bunch to showcase at our open meetings every Tuesday at 7pm in Lab 127.
Baylle Brownlee pulls her suitcase down an empty hotel hallway as her family prepares to leave for the WKU homecoming game where her mother, Brittany Cain, is a homecoming Queen candidate. BRIA GRANVILLE
WKU senior defensive back Tyree Robinson leads a group prayer with his teammate before his team’s homecoming game against Troy. IAN MAULE
Fog envelopes WKU’s Guthrie Bell Tower, October 28, 2013. JUSTIN GILLILAND
WKU freshman long snapper Nolan Dowling hangs his head before the start of his team’s homecoming game against Troy. IAN MAULE
Junior Susan Marquess, of Hopkinsville, KY, dives to swim the 200 freestyle, October 25, 2013. Marquess finished with a time of 1:54.16, finishing 4th in the dual meet against Northwestern University, who would go on to defeat the Hilltoppers by only 6 points. JUSTIN GILLILAND
Family Tree: An Exhibition Print Auction
With the closing of our Family Tree gallery show comes an opportunity to take a piece of WKU photojournalism history home.
Current and former instructors of photojournalism will be donating print sales proceeds made from the silent auction to help support our students. There are some real gems in here, including prints by Jack Corn, David LaBelle, Michael S. Williamson, Jeanie Adams-Smith, Jonathan Adams, Francis Gardler, Tim Broekema, Mike Morse, Chad A. Stevens, Josh Meltzer and more.
Visit the auction page at www.32auctions.com/wkupj to browse through all of the amazing work up for sale. The WKU NPPA student chapter will be using the money from this fundraiser to host guest speakers, pay for events–like print trades–and provide many more learning experiences to our students. This is a great way to support the next generation of visual storytellers coming out of WKU.
Each Thursday, WKU’s Student Chapter of NPPA brings you some of the best images of the past week taken by our very own classmates. To submit for our weekly posts, you must currently be a WKU Photojournalism student and have taken the images or produced the video within the last week (Tuesday to Tuesday). Send your top 1-5 selections to wkunppa@gmail.com by our Tuesday 6:30pm deadline and our officers and attendees will pick the best of the bunch to showcase at our open meetings every Tuesday at 7pm in Lab 127.
Seth Bickett (foreground) and KJ Simpson, both sophomores at Daviess County High School, practice tricks on their bicycles at the PNC Bank parking lot in downtown Owensboro, Ky. KREABLE YOUNG
Wku junior guards Trency Jackson and TJ Prince celebrate after Jackson successfully performed a slam dunk during the dunk contest portion of Hilltopper Hysteria Saturday night. IAN MAULE
Corey Lanerie contemplates his race before he gets out of the jockey dressing room in Keeneland before the eighth race on Friday, October 11, 2013. PEYTON HOBSON
Burmese refugees Cing Sian Lun, 6, and Cing Ngaih Kim, 3, work on Cing Sian Lun’s homework in Owensboro, Ky. on Oct. 17, 2013. Cing Sian Lun speaks Burmese and is also learning English and Spanish in the first grade at Deer Park Elementary School. LEAH VOSS
Gene Wink (left), Roy Humphrey, Jack Humphrey and Donald Gill eat breakfast at J.R.’s Market before they begin their day. Donald carves a “hoo-doo” stick, whose propeller purportedly changes directions upon command. ADRIANA FUNKE
Helen Kasey has been working the day shift at Moonlite Bar-B-Q for over 19 years. 61 years young she is often referred to as “momma” in the kitchen due to her warm and caring personality. Underneath that good spirit Helen is constantly reminded why she works as hard and as much as she does. Her husband Donald Kasey, 61, was diagnosed with Leukemia around four years ago and has been unable to work. Placing the stress of supporting the both of them squarely on Helen’s shoulders. “His disablement check helps out,” Helen said. “I try not to eat until I get here so I can save money.” The stress of her ailing husband and worrying about bills certainly hasn’t dampened Helen’s spirits. “It’s not a burden to take care of him because I am helping him,” she said. “I take the vows I made to him very seriously.” LUKE FRANKE
Tan Mayhall (left) and Tony Rodgers (right) share a laugh at Elmwood Cemetery before the “Voices of Elmwood” performance, which dramatizes the lives of those buried. “I got involved by mistake,” said Rodgers, whose four year involvement has given him experiences as two separate characters in this unique showcase. HARRISON HILL
Cing Lan Nuampi (left) and her husband, Zaw Zaw are refugees and natives of Myanmar who moved their family to Kentucky in July. Even small errands like doing their laundry poses a challenge because the couple do not have driver licenses or a car. The family relies on favors from relatives or the International Center to get them around their new town, Owensboro, Ky. LEAH VOSS
Sunrise to moonrise gives witness to life clicking along in Owensboro through time- lapse photography. The city’s energy — new life mixed with old — reveals itself under clouds, stars and light. JEFF BROWN
Jackson Cofer has completely separated himself from Tina Maria. Tina is a person of the past as Jackson now leads a new life in Lexington, KY with support from friends and family.