I arrived in Elizabethtown, Kentucky for the 2010 Mountain Workshops with a mix of fear and excitement, but very eager to begin my adventure into true newspaper-style photojournalism. The Mountain Workshops – for both still photography and multimedia (mixing video with stills) – came into being through Western Kentucky University 35 years ago. Each year, the workshops set up in a different Kentucky county with a horde of participants ready to document the small towns and their inhabitants. This year’s county was Hardin, with a concentration in the towns of Elizabethtown, Sonora, Radcliff and Fort Knox.
As participants in the Mountain Workshops, we were charged with following and capturing the everyday lives of our assigned subjects and, in our spare time, to troll the area for “features”: stories that we “enterprise” on our own. Let me just say that it’s one thing to have a subject who has been prepped for your arrival and has an idea of the gist behind the exercise, and it’s quite another thing – and a most intimidating thing at that – to approach some uninitiated citizen whose story you have to persuade them is worth telling while also trying to convince them that you’re not just some camera-wielding psycho.
Why would I do this, you ask, when I can make picture stories of people’s lives at weddings, where clients come to me and access by everyone in attendance is a given? The answer is because I wanted the challenge of venturing into that Kentucky community – and learning the skills to also go out into my own community – to find and document the lives of other people; people not necessarily wearing big white dresses.
So, for a beautiful fall week I challenged myself – body, mind and spirit – to be bold and unflinching in meeting and interviewing complete strangers and making the types of pictures I wanted to make outside of weddings. And while I relished the experience, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t without it’s disappointments and intense lows. There were times when I questioned my abilities and second-guessed my skills, but my coach, Denny Simmons, was kind and encouraging and had faith that I could produce a complete story, even if I was chastised for my overuse of the wide angle lens. In the end, I was able to pull out nine images that told the story of my subject, David Willmoth, the mayor of Elizabethtown. I’m posting the images below, and if you’d like to read the story that was submitted with the images, please visit the Mountain Workshops website.
The mayor, looking for his wife to let him in the house.
Mayor Willmoth, greeting a fellow rotary club member at their 7:00 a.m. meeting. (Yes, I got there at the start!)
Mayor Willmoth, answering constituent e-mails.
Having lunch with members of various city departments.
Navonia Young, 10, shows the mayor around the newly renovated school building now being used for after-school activities.
Getting a haircut that will last him through election day.
At home with his wife, discussing the upcoming election where the fate of his job will be determined.
Waiting for the Elizabethtown homecoming football game to start.
Earlier in the day, the mayor gives thumbs-up to the passing homecoming parade of Elizabethtown High School students and faculty.
In closing, I’d like to say how much I thoroughly enjoyed this experience, how similar and dissimilar it is to what I do on a regular basis in my regular life, and how I can’t wait to do it again. Luckily, I’ll get my chance tomorrow, as I’ve been asked to follow and photograph the president of the national chapter of Planned Parenthood (much like I did with the mayor of Elizabethtown) while she is in Columbus to kick off a canvassing campaign and rally where President Bill Clinton will be in attendance. I’m thrilled beyond words to be able to take on this assignment, and, while I did not know of it until I returned, I thank the Mountain Workshops and Denny Simmons for preparing me to handle it.
Glad to hear it was a great learning experience for you, Karen. Nice work on a very challenging task!
Way to go Karen!