Southern Documentary Journal

A blog by Houck Medford
Journal

“One More!” … at the ‘Ultimate Runner’ competition

Race official, Perry Macheras, informs competition runner, Heather Hugosson, that she has one more lap to run in The Mile component of her race. The Ultimate Runner which is unlike any other running competition in the United States as we know it was the brainchild of Sandy Wetherhold who 28 years ago devised a competition in which runners competed for time in five events: one mile, 400 meters, 800 meters, and 5K cross country. The race is age-graded.…

0 Comments
June 29, 2014
Cotton Tale (In Progress) / Journal

A significant event and image from my life …

My mother was the only patient in the ICU of Haywood County Regional Medical Center on Wednesday evening, May 9, 2012.  The Unit was eerily quiet, absent of the usual beeping cadence of  monitors, and that of my mother's - her monitor and I.V.'s disconnected a few hours before.  The sole light burning was the one over the nurses station which cast a diffuse fluorescent glow through their observation window into her private room.  My mother's  life was slipping away as her still warm…

2 Comments
June 3, 2014
Journal

World’s leading early career photographers and their websites ….

 One of the most prestigious photography festivals in the world ( the Look3 Photography Festival in Charlottesville, VA) has identified their early career leading photographers, and their websites.  What a treat to peruse on a rainy day when you might be seeking some inspiration!   Mark Abramson, USA  |  Alex Arbuckle, USA  |   Evgenia Arbugaeva, Russia  |  Rosanna Bach, USA  | Trent Davis Bailey, USA  |  Andy Bardon, USA   |  Ian Bates, USA  |   Endia Beal, USA  |  Olivia Bee, USA |  Anna Beeke, USA  …

0 Comments
May 2, 2014
Twelve faces of pain from the 2014 Winston-Salem Cycling Classic
Journal

Twelve faces of pain from the 2014 Winston-Salem Cycling Classic

[portfolio_slideshow width=560] The purpose of this small documentary project was to capture the facial expressions of a sample group of riders as reflected in their level of physical exertion.  We chose twelve, but one we photographed has a countenance that is complacent and poised -- see if you can find her. Athletes drew from the depths of their physical prowess (and cycling skills) to place and win, or even to finish. Congratulations to all the competitive athletes who traveled from all…

0 Comments
April 20, 2014
Journal

Cinemagraph … Winston-Salem Light Project “Artery”

A favorite project of ours in Winston-Salem is soon to end - 2014's Winston-Salem Light Project - named "The Artery." The scene (literally in front of our home on Factory Row) is the Winston-Salem Strollway where industrious and innovative faculty (Norman Coates and others) and students from the UNC School of the Arts have converted the existing city light fixtures into a half-mile of visual dessert  from dusk to dawn. "Artery" was constructed of 48…

0 Comments
April 18, 2014
Journal

“Chimney Swifts” wins Cape Fear New Music Festival Competition

Our image "Chimney Swifts" won the Cape Fear New Music Festival competition at Methodist University where the photographer was challenged to produce select great images which matched musical movements composed by the festival's guest artists.  This year’s festival, now in it's second year, was to focus on the interaction between the visual arts and music.   Burk Uzzle, a Life Magazine and Magnum photographer and native of North Carolina judged the entries.  Two other of our…

0 Comments
April 16, 2014
Journal

Interstate mirror tree …

I noticed some time ago during my weekly trip to Durham what appeared to be a mirror in a tree.  Today, the weather was good enough to stop, inspect, and photograph. Someone had in the past lodged a round truck mirror in the split of a growing tree and now it is permanently captured.  The site is I-85, northbound - a hundred yards north of the 166 mile marker between the junction of I-85 /…

0 Comments
April 2, 2014
Journal

“Swamp Man” Bruce Beerbower …

  Bruce Beerbower on the Stephen Foster State Park boardwalk in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Digging fox holes and playing with "army men" is a commonality among guy-kids who live the rest of their lives connected to nature.  Such is the case with Hickory, NC's Bruce Beerbower who grew up in the mountains of northern West Virginia. "We cooked everything we caught, and if there was not a place to go camping, my backyard…

0 Comments
March 27, 2014
Journal

“South End Runner” chosen as finalist in Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition

  We have been honored to have our documentary photograph "South End Runner", selected as a finalist in the 11th Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition.  The category for selection is Blue Ridge Parkway – People on the Parkway. The image is of an employee at the Pisgah Inn who ran each morning from the Inn to Wagon Road Gap and back at Milepost 412.  He is half-way home. If you are inclined to vote for "Best in…

0 Comments
March 23, 2014