Annual Woodall Weekend Workshop spotlights Wilkes County
Students and coaches at the 17th Woodall Weekend Workshop on Friday, March 15, 2024, in Wilkes County, Georgia. (Photo/Mark E. Johnson)
Annual Woodall Weekend Workshop spotlights Wilkes County
March 25, 2024
Capturing the essence and personality of a community is the assignment of the Woodall Weekend Workshop each spring. This year, students participating in the 17th annual workshop traveled to Washington, Georgia, in Wilkes County, to document the community. The workshop included 19 students from the Documentary Photojournalism course taught by Mark Johnson, principal lecturer, and eight professional photographers.
Five students from the Introduction to Photojournalism course joined the group for part of the day Saturday.
The photojournalists were headquartered in the historic Fitzpatrick Hotel downtown Washington. Students were responsible for finding their own stories to tell through photographs and working with a professional coach who provided guidance on the best way to visually tell the story.
In addition to completing course assignments, the photographs made by the students will be on display during the Washington Spring Festival on April 20 thanks to a grant from the Office of Service-Learning.
Special thanks to Henry and Lynda Woodall who have supported the workshop each year.
In addition to Johnson, appreciation goes to the coaches who mentor the students:
Billy Weeks, documentary photographer and faculty at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
Mike Haskey, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Woody Marshall, Greensboro, North Carolina, News and Record
Chamberlain Smith (AB ’18), photographer for UGA
Dorothy Kozlowski (ABJ ’10), photographer for UGA
Nell Carroll, independent photojournalist and former director of photography at the Austin, Texas, American-Statesman
Marie de Jesús, director of photography at the Houston Landing and past president of the National Press Photographers Association
Lauren Steel, independent photo editor who works with The New York Times and Washingtonian Magazine
Below is a sample of images made during the workshop.
Lauren Steel, a freelance photo editor for The New York Times, and Woody Marshall, from the Greensboro News and Record, work with Noor Abdallah during the 17th Woodall Weekend Workshop on Friday, March 15, 2024, in Wilkes County, Georgia. (Photo/Mark E. Johnson)Olessia Maximenko, 44, from Komsomolsk, Khabarovskiy Kray, Russia, gets more paint as she works on a piece in her studio on her property in Washington, Georgia, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Maximenko is an artist who has lived in Russia, South Korea, Peru and various cities like Charleston, South Carolina before moving to Washington and raising her two sons. Her work is inspired by nature and what she photographs, as well as what she thinks people want to buy. To her, painting is relaxation and magic. (Photo/Liz Rymarev)Stephanie Hoyt bookkeeping and planning future events for the Washington Tavern prior to Friday regulars coming in for lunch on Friday, March 15, 2024 in Washington, Georgia. (Photo/Jack Casey)Willow Medeiros waits for dad, Josh Medeiros, to pack up after the farmers market in Washington, Ga on Saturday, March 16, 2024. The Medeiros own Medley Farm. (Photo/ Nathalee Simoneau)Marie de Jesús, director of photography at the Houston Landing, listens to Martina Essert during an edit session at the 17th Woodall Weekend Workshop on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in Wilkes County, Georgia. (Photo/Mark E. Johnson)A race buggy competes at Aonia Pass in Washington, Georgia on Saturday, March 16, 2024. (Photo/Noor Abdallah)Doug Owen feeds his chickens at his house on Saturday, March 16, 2024 in Washington, Georgia. Owen lives in a historic antebellum house with is wife Diane Owen. The pair moved from Northern California to Georgia in 2022 and bought Hendricks Florist, a flower shop in Washington, in 2023. (Photo/Avni Trivedi)Dorothy Kozlowski, a photographer for the University of Georgia Marketing and Communicaitons department and a program alum, works with Avni Trivedi on portrait lighting during the 17th Woodall Weekend Workshop on Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Wilkes County, Georgia. (Photo/Mark E. Johnson)
