A fascinating week documenting Murray, Ky.
Posted on 4 November 2009 | No responses
I returned Sunday from Murray, Ky., where I was a writing coach at the 34th annual Mountain Workshops.
This was the 11th time since 1995 that I have been a coach at the documentary photojournalism seminar sponsored by Western Kentucky University.
Each year, the workshop goes to a different small town in Kentucky or Tennessee and spends nearly five days documenting life there in pictures, video, audio and words. By the time the all-volunteer faculty and staff pack up on Sunday afternoon, an army of student and professional journalists has produced a Web site, a framed gallery show, a book almost ready to publish and several video and multimedia pieces.
The workshop’s product is a fascinating reflection of each town. And the process that creates that product is an annual reminder of why I got into this business: to tell interesting stories of real people and their lives. Other faculty and staff members — who come from some of the nation’s most prestigious newspapers, magazines and multimedia production companies — always say the same thing. We learn more from each other and the students than we teach. We come home exhausted, but professionally recharged.
Check out this year’s workshop experience at: www.mountainworkshops.org.