This was so much fun to photograph. A good friend from high school, it was so great to see her after all this time and on this day she was more beautiful than ever.
Jenn won a gold medal for multimedia project for her work on mental illness in prison at The Atlanta Photojournalism Contest.
One of my first films, Positive Lives, will be screened at the AIDS ATHENS FILM FESTIVAL in Georgia, on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1st.
One of the issues that is dear to my heart is AIDS and HIV. In fact, it is also one of the reasons I became a photographer. This project started as a series on HIV in rural America in 2006 and part of the project is going to be screened.
The Film Festival will be showcasing international and local short-films on HIV/AIDS to build awareness and understanding of the disease. It highlights people living with HIV, their challenges and victories, vaccine research, prevention and activism throughout the globe.
World AIDS Day Film Festivals are happening all over the country. Check to see if there is one in your area.
Click here to see the project, Positive Lives.
Tim and Jenn combined won 5 awards at College Photographer of the Year for the work they produced the last year in graduate school at Ohio University.
By Kristen Rapin
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
ATHENS, Ohio (Nov. 25, 2008)—Ohio University students won 6 of 16 individual first place awards at the University of Missouri’s College Photographer of the Year (CPOY) awards. No other school took home more than two individual awards, making Ohio University the top 1st place award winner.
Students also won a 2nd place award, four 3rd place awards and 10 awards of excellence.
“This is the fourth time in the last four competitions where we can measure our students’ success against peer institutions,” said Terry Eiler, the school’s director. “It’s exciting to see that our students are continuing to lead the universities in quality photojournalism.”
Jenn Ackerman won three awards for her project “Trapped.”
“This is a project I really poured a lot of energy and heart into, and it’s nice to receive recognition from your peers,” said Ackerman.
The CPOY awards program is the oldest and only open competition for college photographers in the world. Sponsored by Nikon, the event is held each year at the University of Missouri. This year there were more than 121 colleges participating with a total of 13,313 still images and 169 multimedia projects from 586 students.
I often find interesting links on photojournalismlinks.com and this one struck a chord in me as I am sure it does with any photojournalist – photographers talking about food they have had in the field.
I have definitely had my share of interesting foods while photographing but one time in Africa the family asked me to cook for them. I had been photographing this family for a couple of days and they asked me to join them for dinner one night not knowing I would be the cook.
After remembering this, I went back to my photos from that time and found these that one of their children had taken of me cooking their traditional dishes.
I recently posted images from my time in Zambia on my website. Check them out here.
For those in Tennessee, Trapped will be screened in Johnson City tomorrow evening, Nov. 15 at 6:30p.m.
Here is the blurb from their site:
Trapped: Mental Illness in America’s Prisons
7 min (USA) – Directed by Jenn AckermanMs. Ackerman, a photographer by training, produces her very first documentary on the important, often overlooked issue of the mentally ill in America’s prisons. Given access to a mental health unit of the Kentucky prison system, the result is a visually spectacular, haunting, and informative movie.
I am one step closer to the goal I set out for myself when I first picked up a camera – to have a book published by the of age 35.
I received word the other day that I am a finalist for the the Center of Documentary Studies First Book Prize. While I may not win, I am just excited as in the next couple of weeks, one of my dreams has the possibility of becoming a reality.
Tim and Jenn were chosen individually as to be highlighted as featured artists on About The Image. Read what we had to say:
Jenn and Tim are a husband and wife team that share a passion for many things in life including; great stories, good friends, ice cream, and cozy slippers. The two are inseparable and where you find one you'll find the other.