Kentucky Summer Photo League | BOYD’S STATION

Ideas and thoughts of organizing and funding a "league" of student photo internships in northern/central Kentucky to benefit at least eight communities and weekly newspapers in northern/central Kentucky.

The Kentucky nonprofit Boyd's Station and the visual documentary program called Project 306.36 is organized by a community of award-winning photojournalists from around the United States dedicated to promoting photojournalism through mentoring, grant and internship opportunities with an emphasis on supporting rural community journalism and the local newspapers. These efforts are made possible by Boyd's Station through grant giving, and documentary programs and projects based in Kentucky.

Boyd's Station Project 306.36 Photo Documentary Project has awarded grants and fellowships to student journalists since 2018 affording each student the time and opportunity to be part of Project 306.36 to document Harrison County, Kentucky each summer for three months. These emerging journalists contribute to the ongoing and growing archive collection of images documenting the county with the benefit of critique and mentoring by acclaimed professionals.

Impressively, photos and essays produced by Project 306.36 students in Harrison County continued since 2018 to be awarded the gold medal (first place) in the annual national College Photographer of the Year (CPOY) contest Interpretive Storytelling category and top honors in the Atlanta Photojournalism Student Contests as well as White House Press Photographers Competition.

Past Project 306.36 students have been hired full-time following their time in Harrison County at newspapers and publications including The Arizona Republic and The Nashville Tennessean.

The Boyd’s Station Project 306.36 program has grown into a highly coveted and sought-after opportunity by students dedicated to careers in photojournalism.

Grant recipients have also returned to Harrison County following graduation and currently live full-time becoming part of the community they were introduced to during their grants and fellowships, and they continue building their journalism careers based in rural Kentucky.

https://www.boydsstation.org/about-306

The Next Steps

Boyd's Station partnered with the Cynthiana Democrat, the rural community newspaper with a circulation of 5,000 weekly subscribers dedicated to covering Harrison County, Kentucky, helping fund and mentoring a summer student photo intern in 2022 dedicated to working with the Cynthiana Democrat editors and staff as a full-time photographer for three months.

The student photographer selected was an Ohio University student who was one of the finalists for the two Reinke Grants awarded.

A $3000 grant/fellowship provided to Ohio University student photographer Tanner Pearson brought him to Kentucky as the Cynthiana Democrat fellow for 2022. Included with awarded money, Tanner was provided with no-cost housing locally in a family home which was generously offered by another Project 306.36 program supporter. Boyd's Station provided the funding and reimbursed all fuel costs associated with working for the Cynthiana Democrat for the summer. Boyd's Station also provided Nikon professional equipment for the summer through a partnership with Nikon Professional Services.

An important point is this opportunity, with the student photographer, Boyd’s Station, and the Cynthiana Democrat, supported and enhanced local community journalism. Without tasking the local newspaper to fund this summer internship or pay any of the expenses associated with this internship opportunity, this local community newspaper thrived with the work produced by Tanner. The Cynthiana Democrat and staff only needed to welcome the intern for the summer and support them with training, and mentoring allowing the student the opportunity to learn and grow professionally while in Harrison County through their guidance as well as the professional mentoring through Boyd’s Station.

The Big Idea:

Kentucky Summer Photo League

Through grants, local community support and donations, and partnering with eight (8) local community weekly newspapers all with nearly 5,000 total reader circulation and all within 45 miles of Cynthiana, Kentucky located in the central/northern region of Kentucky, a "league" of photojournalism internships will be created and funded through the nonprofit Boyd's Station to support and provide eight (8) summer intern photographer opportunities at the partner community newspapers involved.
This would create eight individual opportunities for students while enhancing and creating a more robust community journalism presence in each partner community.
Each community newspaper would host a summer photojournalism intern for three months (June-July-August).
Boyd's Station would support the students with world-class mentoring and individual dedicated professionals providing critique and guidance beyond the local newspaper's daily help.
The network of local community newspapers photo interns would be part of Boyd's Station Project 306.36 summer activities and workshops and lectures. With all the newspapers being in the immediate area of each other, there would be ample availability for the student photographers to be supported by each other and the mentors of Boyd's Station overall.
The student work from the region would be available to the overall group of partnering newspapers to use without limits or cost as part of an online network of photographs produced by the group of student photographers.
All the student photographer work, at the conclusion of the summer, will be archived and added to an ongoing collection that will grow each year as the program continues. The entire collection of images would be archived on the Boyd's Station database with SEO and IPTC data providing detailed caption information including names, places, and dates of image creation of EVERY image, and curated and selected images would be publicly searchable and viewable through the database portal.
The summer would conclude with Boyd's Station hosting a "league" championship where student work would be submitted in a number of categories and judged by a visiting panel of acclaimed photojournalists for honors and prizes including the Grand Champion Image, Best Essay, League MVP photographer as well as 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in categories such as Community Spirit, Best Kentucky Light, Face of the Bluegrass, and other more playful categories beyond the standard news, feature, and sports categories that permeate most photo contests.
Provide summer workshops and in-person events with visiting professional photo mentors while visiting Kentucky at local community venues in partner newspaper towns and communities and/or Boyd's Station Gallery in Cynthiana.
Mentors in the program are world-class. Many are Pulitzer winners and notable photographers in the journalism world. Mentors offering workshops, speaking events, and exhibitions in these communities while visiting the students in Kentucky will be rich and meaningful opportunities for local communities.
The work compiles annually as part of an overall historic archive documenting these Kentucky communities in a meaningful and important way.
A gallery-ready exhibition of curated images from the "league" of student photographers printed and framed and would be available as a travel exhibition available and scheduled for display at each partnering community throughout the year.

How will this be funded?

-Community Provided Housing-no cost to the student

Total: $5000

Bourbon County Citizen

Paris, KY

https://www.bourboncountycitizen.com/

Circulation: 3,750 weekly (14.5 miles distance to Cynthiana, KY)

(Oldest newspaper in Kentucky - 200+ years)

$3000-Stipend/Grant

$750-Mileage

$1000- Photojournalism Mentor (Example - Michael Swensen)

$250-Cash

-Community Provided Housing-no cost to the student

Total: $5000

Falmouth Outlook

Falmouth, KY

https://www.falmouthoutlook.com/

Circulation: 3,000 weekly (21 miles distance to Cynthiana, KY)

$3000-Stipend/Grant

$750-Mileage

$1000-Photojournalism Mentor

$250-Cash

-Community Provided Housing-no cost to the student

Total: $5000

Maysville Ledger Independent

https://maysville-online.com/

Circulation: 3,654 daily - 5 days/week (46.4 miles distance to Cynthiana, KY)

$3000-Stipend/Grant

$750-Mileage

$1000- Photojournalism Mentor (Example: Pat McDonogh)

$250-Cash

-Community Provided Housing-no cost to the student

Total: $5000

$40,000 Total Funding

Notes:

· 3 Month Summer Photo Internships provided through grants from Boyd's Station (nonprofit)

· Grants named for each newspaper

· Loaned Nikon professional photo gear

· Traveling exhibition of works

· Summer End Contest-public event - hosted at Rohs Opera House-Cynthiana, KY, and/or each year at a different venue in a different town.

· Historic Archive of all images produced by photographers each year

· Online Website/public view/Newspaper Group Use

· Of-note professionals as mentors

· Professional mentors in-person visit will also present community talks or event

Concept Idea

Conceived in the spirit of the Wood Bat League on the East Coast of the United States each Sumer college baseball athletes play for local wood bat league teams hosted in small towns along the East Coast. Families board the players in their homes and make them part of the family and community. Each town supports and rallies around its summer wood bat league teams.