Annual Woodall Weekend Workshop spotlights Wilkes County

A group of about 25 people pose together outdoors at night, smiling for the camera. They stand on a brick and grass area with parked cars, trees, and streetlights visible in the background.
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.

Three people sit together at a table during the Woodall Weekend Workshop, focused on a laptop. One woman points at the screen, another smiles, and a man watches intently. A red cup and blue-cushioned chairs are visible.
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)

A woman sits at a desk by a window, painting on a canvas at the Woodall Weekend Workshop. She holds a brush and is surrounded by jars of paint and brushes. Decorative paper stars hang above, and natural light fills the cozy, artistic space.
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)

A person sits alone at a bar table decorated with bottle caps, jotting notes for the Woodall Weekend Workshop. Exposed brick walls, string lights, and a TV set the scene as daylight streams in through a window in the background.
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)

A young child leans on the window of a red pickup truck, gazing outside with a thoughtful expression during a Woodall Weekend Workshop. Trees and greenery are visible in the blurred background.
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)

Two women sit at a table during the Woodall Weekend Workshop, each with a laptop. One rests her chin on her hand, listening intently as they engage in thoughtful conversation.
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 dune buggy with the number 16 speeds along a red dirt track at the Woodall Weekend Workshop, creating a motion blur effect. The background features winding tracks and out-of-focus trees under a clear sky.
A race buggy competes at Aonia Pass in Washington, Georgia on Saturday, March 16, 2024. (Photo/Noor Abdallah)

A person squats next to a chicken feeder, observing several brown hens eating in an outdoor fenced area at the Woodall Weekend Workshop, with trees and a metal coop in the background.
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)

Two women work closely together in a studio at a Woodall Weekend Workshop, examining camera equipment and a smartphone. One holds a camera with sunglasses on her head, while the other looks intently at the phone. White flower pots are nearby.
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)

Editor: Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu