Eddie Adams and David Alan Harvey in an old documentary about the first Barnstorm.

My mom just retired as a high school teacher this month, after I don’t know…maybe four decades of teaching art and then digital photography.  Visiting home I borrowed one of the VHS tapes that she shows her students on occasion, like when they have a substitute and the kids can’t be trusted to pay attention.  The video was a 60 minute documentary about the first Eddie Adams Workshop, held in 1988, and it’s an interesting watch if you can find a copy.  Not only can you hear some words of wisdom from some of the biggest names in photojournalism – while they still had hair on their heads – you get a fairly accurate reminder of how great people thought denim jackets and mullets were twenty years ago.

Here’s a quote I liked from Peter Howe, then-director of photography at Life Magazine:

It’s like the saying about the army…join today’s photojournalism, travel to exotic lands, meet exciting people…and shoot them.  Except that when you shoot them, make sure you shoot them until they come alive.  Until we, the readers, the editors, are intrigued or amused or moved by them.  Make sure that you make us care about them.  It’s the least that you can do.

I took a photo of the television when David Alan Harvey appeared with Eddie Adams, since Meridian’s Jackie Snow met Harvey recently and has since described the experience with some might say excessive amounts of enthusiasm.  Not that anyone actually did say excessive…just that some might say…might.

© Will Parson

I have emerged from my lair into the light, just briefly, after several days of polishing photos, getting frustrated, ripping up my portfolio and starting the process over again.  The respite comes because the Eddie Adams Workshop has postponed their application deadline until Friday May 15th – as they promised in their very enlightening webinar on Friday.

By last night I felt like I was on some sort of pyschotropic medication.  My brain was cloudy, and I was turning in a couple assignment by email and just staring at the motionless progress bar on my laptop screen.  Just staring…even though I knew my connection had gone out, because I didn’t want to have to move to a spot with a stronger signal.  I am essentially finished with the EAW application, though I haven’t pressed the submit button.  I will spend the time until Friday thinking about it, deciding whether to listen to the voice to change this or that just one more time.

On a positive note, the application process was easy as humanly possible (no captions? Hooray!) and like other instances in which I’ve had to step back and assess my work as a whole, it offered a great time to put things in perspective.

Here is a list of the benefits I’ve experienced from applying to the Eddie Adams Workshop.

1.  The aforementioned forced self-assessment, akin to the Total Perspective Vortex but not so lethal

2.  Getting in touch with professional photographers you might not have a good reason to email otherwise

3.  Getting valuable analysis from those pro photogs

4.  Getting encouragement from the same pro photogs (Thanks again to Sandy Huffaker, Matt Mallams, Elyse Butler and Robert Benson)

5.  Understanding the difference between good photos you just happened to take and the great photos that speak to your vision.

There are still a few days to apply, so if you’re reading this and you haven’t applied yet, hurry up and get on it.  If you think you have a shot then why not?  It will at least be a good reason to pore through your archive for those forgotten images that always felt like a part of you.

ALSO: If anyone wants to look at my EAW application portfolio, let me know in the comments or by email and I’ll send you a link to the private gallery!