Maryville area residents are invited to attend a reception Sunday afternoon (September 20) to visit with 40 photographers who are spending the week participating in the 78th University of Missouri journalism school's photo workshop.
The director of the Visit Maryville tourism office DeAnn Davison says the photographers are looking to local residents for story ideas.
Click the LISTEN button to hear DeAnn Davison's conversation with KXCV-KRNW News Director Bill Oliver.
Sunday's reception is from 5 until 7 p.m. at Rose Hill Acres event center at First and Main in Maryville.
And the following Saturday (September 26), photo stories from workshop participants will be on public display at the Maryville Community Center from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
News release from the Visit Maryville tourism office:
Visit Maryville is excited to welcome photographers from across the country and beyond to Maryville September 20–26 for the 78th Missouri Photo Workshop, a program of the University of Missouri School of Journalism dedicated to documenting the people, places, and stories of Missouri communities.
Founded in 1949 by Clifton C. Edom of the Missouri School of Journalism, the Missouri Photo Workshop has spent more than seven decades documenting communities throughout the state. Inspired by the documentary photography of the Farm Security Administration, the workshop emphasizes storytelling through honest, unposed photography and encourages photographers to immerse themselves in a community, build relationships, and visually document the lives of the people who call it home. Over the years, participants and faculty have included some of the nation’s leading photojournalists, photographers and photo editors.
Maryville has its own place in the workshop’s history. The community previously hosted the Missouri Photo Workshop in 1989, making this year’s event a return to Northwest Missouri 37 years later.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome the Missouri Photo Workshop back to Maryville,” said DeAnn Davison, Tourism Director for the City of Maryville. “There is something really special about having photographers of this caliber spend an entire week getting to know our community and the people who make it what it is. They will be capturing everyday moments that tell the story of Maryville today, and those photographs will become part of a visual history that can be appreciated for generations. We hope our community will welcome the photographers, share their stories, and enjoy being part of this unique experience.”
The week will begin with a community opening reception Sunday, September 20, from 5–7 p.m. at Rose Hill Acres Event Center. The public is invited to attend, meet the participating photographers and workshop team, and learn more about the Missouri Photo Workshop and what photographers will be doing throughout the community during the week.
During the week, the photographers and workshop team will be based at the Agricultural Learning Center on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University.
“The Agricultural Learning Center is a great example of the quality and versatility of facilities we have available in Maryville,” said Davison. “Its flexible spaces make it an ideal home base for the Missouri Photo Workshop. Partnerships and opportunities like this allow us to showcase not only the Agricultural Learning Center and the beautiful campus of Northwest Missouri State University, but Maryville as a destination.”
Photographers will spend the week throughout Maryville and the surrounding community developing individual documentary photo stories. Rather than simply photographing landmarks or events, participants are encouraged to get to know local people and tell meaningful stories about their lives, work, families, passions, and experiences. The resulting photographs become part of the workshop’s extensive archive documenting life in Missouri.
“The Missouri Photo Workshop is built around the belief that the most meaningful stories of a community are found in its people,” said Lynden Steele of the Missouri Photo Workshop. “Maryville first welcomed the workshop in 1989, and we are thrilled to return and see the community through a new generation of photographers. Much has changed, but the purpose of the workshop remains the same: to slow down, listen, build relationships and create photographs that honestly reflect a place and its people.”
The week will culminate with a public exhibition on Saturday, September. 26, from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. at the Maryville Community Center. The exhibition will showcase the photo stories created during the week and give residents an opportunity to see their community through the eyes of the visiting photographers.
The public is encouraged to attend both the opening reception and final exhibition.
“This is more than an opportunity to host a prestigious workshop,” Davison added. “It is an opportunity for Maryville to be seen and remembered through the stories of the people who live here. We are proud of our community, and we cannot wait to see the stories these photographers discover.”
