#mtnworkshops

[mtnworkshops]

Bowling Green’s not the only place to find Big Red... nice image of Mt. Sterling by @mediacafeonline #mtnworkshops (at Mount Sterling, Kentucky) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpI2MXclrRG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=6w3yl0yr34s

[shameelarafin]

@joshabla talking about #previsualization @mtnworkshops #mtnworkshops (at Paducah, Kentucky)

[laurenmnolan]

I think it's acceptable to say that Team Leslye killed it this week. Here's us working hard into the morning with our array of energy-sustaining snacks. What an amazing group of ladies to have worked with! 💪🏼 #mtnworkshops #werk #nosleep #bamf #coolkids

[lightroll]

Because, Kids

[justingellerson]

Avery Young, left, a 23 year old grad student from Detroit, Michigan with 19 year old freshman Dante Brown, stand with their instruments by their sides during a matching drill on Kentucky State Universities Jones Field in Frankfort, Kentucky, October 2015 Through the next couple of days I'll be sharing some of the photos I made while attending Mountain Workshops in Frankfort, Kentucky. #mtnworkshops @mtnworkshops (at Kentucky State University)

[jovelletamayo-blog]

Raising Ronin - I found this lovely family one night last week on the way to critiques at Mountain Workshops in Frankfort, KY. Robert Kirkman’s dusty, cluttered wood shop immediately pulled me in from the downtown strip. I was surprised to find his wife, Risa Yost, working from her own dental lab in the back. Amidst the machinery are toys and a play area for their three-year-old, Ronin, and their dog, Lucy.

[bgpj]

Seeing at the 40th annual Mountain Workshops:

I have seen the workshops from the perspective of a labbie and a student coordinator, but this year, I was lucky enough to be a participant at Mountain Workshops in Frankfort, Kentucky. At the draw of a hat I was assigned the Lemley family, a forward thinking, environmentally conscious, organic farming family with a great awareness of their place in the world. I walked into this situation thinking the story was about the farm. I found myself getting "process-y” with my images and I worried the images lacked soul. Then, as the sun began to set behind the hills, Ella caught my attention. It was then that she pulled out her hand made halloween costume made to resemble a Phoenix. She paraded around the landscape trying it on for size. She became my character and this photo assignment became a storybook. 

The workshops couldn't have come at a better time. Lately, upon my return to school after a year working at internships and studying abroad, I’ve been finding myself in a creative rut with a relationship with my camera likened to that of a long marriage. It’s there, I’m loyal to it, but there hadn’t been a spark for a while. It’s been an ultimate low, something I haven’t experienced since a few years back when I was on the border of quitting. But like a marriage, I’m learning to work through it, doing small things to rejuvenate the mess in my head. 

So, in a sense I feel like going to Eddie Adams last week and attending Mountain this week has some weird cosmic significance. 

The combination of being forced to shoot, spending time around excited students and being inspired by incredible photographers on a daily basis has lit that spark again. I think hitting this low point and becoming so desperate almost helps you find that spark again. You just have to open yourself up completely to changing the way you think. While I accept I’m in a plateau, I’m finally putting on the boxing gloves, stepping into the ring, and glaring down my opponent - complacency. I’m not as good as I thought I was. I’ve made a lot of shitty frames at these workshops. I’ve had portfolio critiques that blew my mind and put me in my place.  I’m far from where I want to be and that in itself is thrilling. 

[ktmeek]

early morning airport runs. #mtnworkshops (at Lexington, Ky)

[jechowphoto]

Chandler slowly wakes up for the last day of the workshop. Berea, KY. October 2014. @wwestz #mtnworkshops

[rueby]

Jesus and the mountain #latergram #mtnworkshops (at Red Lick)

[mtnworkshops]

Are you ready for a phenomenal week???? 1 day left before the 2019 #mtnworkshops begin! ❤️📸🎥 @jonathanworld (at Gateway Regional Arts Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpPNFqQF5UN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ijl83k15izst

[shameelarafin]

#mtnworkshops #waitingfordinner (at Paducah, Kentucky)

[laurenmnolan]

I love the light in this place. Poor Richard's Books in Frankfort, KY. #mtnworkshops #mws #wkupj #light (at Poor Richard's Books)

[emilykask]

Dave Weatherwax gives a lecture the first night of Mountain Workshops #mtnworkshops #mws2014 (at Churchill's)

[mtnworkshops]

Wired. 🖇 #mtnworkshops 📸: @justinlfowler (at Gateway Regional Arts Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpNprmeFuD1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1meip3j1fd9kw

[mtnworkshops]

Here lies the bodies of former work shoppers from years past... #mtnworkshops ☠️🧟‍♂️📸: @jonathanworld https://www.instagram.com/p/BpKiYgaltSk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=istijthnok43