Keep Going: A Look at Growing Old

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At 96, Sherman Price is Russellville, Kentucky’s self-proclaimed “oldest citizen.” He was born on the day that WWI began, and he was 5 years old when it ended. He was a teenager during the Great Depression and he remembers that his family was among the first in their neighborhood to buy a radio.

“I used to be real backwards, bashful, you know? But after I got over that I went the other way and I can go up to anyone that I want to and go to talking to them and it don’t bother me a bit.”

Price is a greeter at his church, and a farmer who still raises horses and angus calves. He says that he believes that having a purpose every day in his work is what has kept him going and that the only thing he worries about when he dies is that his livestock won’t be cared for.

 

Posted in: Class Work, Web Narratives

First Studio Lighting Class a Success

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The class poses during finals week with Ms A.


The first Advanced Lighting Class offered at WKU was well-received by the 12 student-pioneers. The weekly course featured studio assignments, pushing the student’s skills in the Big White Room. Assignments ranged from Motion to Issue Topic to Visual Poetry. Delayna Earley, a Senior PJ student in the course, said, “It pushed by shooting skills up to a whole new level.” Earley won first and second place Portrait in the student NPPA monthly clip contest with two of her class assignments.
The class also spent weeks researching studio costs and listened to a half-a-dozen guest speakers discuss freelancing and the cost of running a contract photography business. The class took a field trip to Dean Dixon’s in Nashville to see a working studio set-up.
The class is under consideration for a permanent home in the PJ line-up and will hopefully be offered again in the Spring.

Posted in: Advanced Lighting

The Life and Lies of Elizabeth St. John

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Sara John is a self proclaimed “bookworm” who uses reading and writing as an outlet to escape the reality of her parents not living together. Because of the difficulties at home, Sara said, she has put up a wall to keep people out, so when she is writing she can truly be herself without any fear of being judged. This is a story of the struggles of a little girl growing up with the absence of a father and how she deals with issues that it involves.

Posted in: Class Work, Student Work, Web Narratives

Living Positive

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“I don’t act the way that I act because I’m gay and HIV positive,” said Teddy Talyor, 22, of Bowling Green, Ky. Taylor was infected with HIV when he was 19, changing his life forever. Taylor contracted HIV after having unprotected sex with one of his partners. Since then he has decided to live life to the fullest. Most nights consist of drinking alcohol, doing drugs or having relations with new partners.

Posted in: Class Work, Photojournalism Projects Class

Sisterwives

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Mark, 48, lives in South Central Kentucky with his wives, Marian, 32, and Heidi, 23. Together they are raising seven children under the principle of Celestial Plural Marriage, also known as polygamy. Their beliefs about plural marriage are rooted in their faith, what they call independent fundamental Mormonism. Mark leads the family in a home church service each Sunday. Marian and Heidi home school the children. The family lives a life of sustainability, growing their own fruits and vegetables, and using solar energy to power their home.

Posted in: Class Work, Photojournalism Projects Class, Student Work

Capturing a dramatic rescue

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WKU Freshman Tyler Cacek spent several weeks working with an ambulance crew for a project for Intro class.  One day he documented the dramatic rescue of several people from a car crash.

Margaret Mason, 63, of Marion County, Ky, attempts to remove the victim of a head-on collision on highway 50 outside of Lebanon, Kentucky. The crash resulted in the hospitalization of 5 people, two of which were flown directly to Louisville, KY hospital from the scene.

Posted in: Introduction to Photojournalism, Student Work

Sending off toe-to-toe

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WKU Senior Cody Duty photographed this couple in a somewhat different way, focusing on a tender touch of toes, using the contrast in footwear to tell the story of a soldier departing for war.

Mary Lewin (left) spends the remaining moments with her husband, Sgt. Mark Lewin of the U.S. Army, before the 36th Sustainment “Rawhide” Brigade Deployment Ceremony in Temple, Texas on July 4, 2009. “I’m proud of him, but it’s hard for us,” Mary said. The soldiers will be deployed for a 13-month tour overseas.

Posted in: Class Work, Student Work

Peace After War in Uganda • WKU student Tyler Cacek travels to Africa

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In June 2009, I left the United States for East Africa. The primary purpose of my trip abroad was to document the efforts of The HALO Foundation (www.haloworldwide.org) working with disadvantaged youth in Kampala, Uganda. The majority of my time was spent creating a portrait series for each of the homes HALO works in, but in my off time I pursued other stories dealing with issues across east Africa. For years I have wanted to be a documentary photographer working in the Third World. This was the perfect opportunity for me to embrace my dreams and take a step into a career that I will hotly chase for the rest of my life.

I spent two months photo-mentoring a group of boys living in one of the group homes HALO supports. There isn’t much art appreciation in Uganda, so giving disadvantaged kids cameras and allowing them to explore the world in a way that they never thought possible allowed them to grow and appreciate a little bit of something that they never had.

I will continue to return to Uganda to document human stories an elements. My trip this summer allowed me to solidify my passion and honed my vision for my future.

Posted in: Introduction to Photojournalism