Joel Hawksley

Month’s Work: May

Joel — Fri, 31 May 2013 23:18:52 +0000

Double-metric century winner Scottie Weiss takes an early lead during the 2013 Mountains of Misery race outside Newport on Sunday.

While I spent most of my time this past month in Europe, I did have a handful of assignments back home in Virginia.

Sparks fly as fabricator Ricky Phoenix of Newcastle welds a motor cover at Apex Industrial Equipment in Salem on Thursday.

William Fleming senior Khalil Bonds, 17, is leading Timesland in the 100, 200 and 400, and will run all three events on Saturday at the Cosmo meet. His favorite race is the 400; “I fell in love with it the first time I ran it.”

Patrick Henry freshman Jack Hitchins (left) and William Fleming senior Dwayne Murphy await a handoff in the 4×800 relay during a Western Valley District track meet at William Fleming High School in Roanoke on Wednesday.

Patrick Henry senior Caroline Brailsford attempts to clear 12′ 4″ in the pole vault during a Western Valley District track meet at William Fleming High School in Roanoke on Wednesday.

Reigning Miss Jabberwock Jasmine Keeling watches the opening processional from the side of the stage at the Jefferson Center.

A pedestrian walks down University Avenue on a rainy day in Charlottesville, Va. on May 18, 2013. (Joel Hawksley/The Washington Post)

Ensign O1 John Wisskopf walks to Old Cabell Hall for the University of Virginia Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Joint Commissioning Ceremony at University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. on May 18, 2013. (Joel Hawksley/The Washington Post)

Roanoke Times report Matt Chittum.

Dennis “Hollywood” Zainfeld is building a car he believes will top 650 mph. “My ex-wife thinks I have a death wish,” he said. “She’s scared to death. She does not want to bury me. She wants me to die of old age.”

J.R. “Butch” Blessard, 67, aced the 182-yard seventh hole on the Meadows Course at Ashley Plantation in Daleville last Friday. He did it again on the Hills Course four holes later, acing the 118-yard second hole. Both are nine-hole courses.

R.S. “Rod” Belcher’s first novel “The Six-Gun Tarot” – a mash-up of Western, horror, and fantasy, with a little romance and steampunk thrown in – was published by Tor, a division of MacMillan, in January.

William Fleming student William Strickland will graduate Friday with plans to head to George Mason in the fall, but the road to graduation hasn’t been easy. He entered foster care when he was 13 after his father abused and neglected him. He bounced around to different foster homes and went to five different middle schools before landing with his current foster mother and attending Fleming.

Riders maker their way past the Virginia 42 overlook outside New Castle during the Mountains of Misery race on Sunday.

On Assignment: 2013 European Tour

Joel — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:48:39 +0000

Arriving in Pittsburgh, 5/4/2013

Over the past two weeks I traveled from Roanoke to Ireland and Italy to cover the 2013 European Tour with Ohio University Bands, a long-time client from my days in college.

It’s moments like these that I truly appreciate the places photography has taken me over the past couple of years.

Departing Pittsburgh, 5/5/2013

Downtown Chicago, on the approach to ORD, 5/5/2013

Amy’s first day of flying, en route to Dublin, 5/5/2013

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Sunset on ORD > DUB, 5/5/2013

Landing in Dublin, 5/6/2013

Dublin travelers, 5/6/2013

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, 5/6/2013

Hand in hand, downtown Dublin, 5/6/2013

Famine memorial, downtown Dublin, 5/6/2013

Signs of home, downtown Dublin, 5/6/2013

Trinity College quad, Dublin, 5/6/2013

Afternoon cricket, Trinity College, Dublin, 5/6/2013

Love locks, downtown Dublin, 5/6/2013

Lovers in Dublin, 5/6/2013

Kyle at sunset, Dublin, 5/6/2013

Pedestrian, North Dublin, 5/6/2013

Taking a leak, downtown Dublin, 5/6/2013

Lovers at dusk, downtown Dublin, 5/6/2013

Rock of Cashel, 5/7/2013

Boy at play, Cashel, Ireland, 5/7/2013

Kilkenny, Ireland, 5/7/2013

Performing at St. Stephen’s Green, Trinity College, Dublin, 5/8/2013

Making new friends in Dublin, 5/8/2013

The Question, Dublin, 5/8/2013

Wind Symphony performance, Clondalkin, Ireland, 5/8/2013

Departing Dublin, 5/9/2013

Arriving in Copenhagen, 5/9/2013

Quiet room, Copenhagen, 5/9/2013

Landing in Fiumicino, Italy, 5/9/2013

Performing in St. Peter’s Square, 5/10/2013

Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum, 5/10/2013

St. Peter’s Basilica, The Vatican, 5/13/2013

Caprese salad, Rome, 5/10/2013

Performing at University of Rome, 5/10/2013

Arriving in Florence, Italy, 5/11/2013

Florence, Italy, 5/11/2013

Dining in Piazza del Duomo, Florence, Italy, 5/11/2013

Florence, Italy, 5/11/2013

Departing Florence, Italy, 5/11/2013

A night out in Rome, 5/11/2013

Man at the window, Rome, 5/11/2013

Self portrait, Carpegna, Italy, 5/12/2013

Pro-life parade, Rome, 5/12/2013

Children’s volleyball tournament, Rome, 5/12/2013

Rome Metro, Colosseo station, 5/13/2013

Napping above Piazza del Popolo, Rome, 5/12/2013

Piazza del Popolo, 5/12/2013

Via Aurelia, Carpegna, Italy, 5/12/2013

A lecture, Via Aurelia, Carpegna, Italy, 5/12/2013

Evening entertainment, Cafe Concerto, Rome, 5/12/2013

Domus Mariae, Palazzo Carpegna, Italy, 5/13/2013

Arriving in PIT, 5/13/2013

Departing CLT, 5/13/2013

On the ground at ROA, 5/13/2013

Runners of Steel: The 2013 Pittsburgh Marathon

Joel — Sun, 05 May 2013 19:13:44 +0000

Today I covered the 2013 Pittsburgh Marathon as part of the race’s photography team. Here are a few of my favorite images.

Pace bicyclists make their way to the starting line before the race.

Pre-race blessing, First Presbyterian Church.

Boston strong.

Recumbent and upright bicyclists, 16th Street bridge.

The 4:30 pace pack crosses the 16th Street bridge.

Strip district.

9th Street bridge.

James Kirwa, men’s winner, 2:13:37.

Women’s winner Mary Akor is attended to by medical staff after collapsing at the finish line.

Finish line joy.

Middle of the pack, Strip District.

Month’s Work: April

Joel — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:33:32 +0000

Spectators watch as a motorcyclist performs a high-flying stunt for the crowd during the Blue Ridge Bike Fest at the Roanoke Civic Center on Saturday. The three day event wraps up its fifth year on Sunday.

Joseph Cartledge lines up a forehand during a match against Eastern Mennonite School at North Cross School in Roanoke County on Tuesday.

Out fielder Brandon Jacobs is interviewed by members of the media at LewisGale Field in Salem on Wednesday.

The field of cars makes its way through turns three and four under caution during the 15th Annual Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday.

Kyle Busch #18 is blanketed by a wind-whipped flag after being introduced before the 64th Annual STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.

Leecy Fink (center) is overcome with emotion as she embraces her children Jenna (left) and Cameron on the way to the finish line at the fourth annual Susan G. Komen Foundation race at River’s Edge Sports Complex in Roanoke on Saturday.

Todd Edgell and his fiance Kendra Hampton will be getting married this Saturday in her hometown of Kingsport, Tenn. The two were friends growing up, and fell in love over Skype while Edgell was deployed.

Ben Barton, a senior on the baseball team at North Cross School, jokes around with teammates before a game against Miller School. As a trained EMT, Baron recently helped treat two of his injured teammates during an accident in the outfield.

Town of Vinton employee Kenny Sledd eyes a corner on the zero-turn mower course at the Heavy Equipment Operators’ Rodeo at the Roanoke Civic Center on Tuesday. Approximately 60 employees from area municipalities competed in a series of eight events.

Red Sox Pitcher Matt Price sits in the stands at Lewis Gale Field in Salem on Wednesday.

Students from Green Valley Elementary School scramble under a parachute before the start of the “Little Feet Meet” at Northside High School in Roanoke on Friday.

Runners cross the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Jefferson Street at the start of the Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon in Roanoke on Saturday.

Thoughts on The Image, Deconstructed Workshop

Joel — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:37:04 +0000

Members of the NRCC community and support staff from various organizations link hands for a time of reflection during a gathering at GraceLife Baptist Church in Christiansburg on Saturday.

I’ve been sitting on this one for a couple weeks, waiting for the right moment to write about my experience at The Image, Deconstructed workshop at UNC Chapel Hill last month.

The past few months have been full of change for me, in every way I could ever imagine. I’ve moved to a new city, started a new job, and made a whole new group of wonderful friends. The way I approach my photography has also changed considerably, as I now have more time to focus on each story I cover.

What struck me about what I learned at TID was how most of it was things I had never even thought about before. Not once had I really considered how my presence in setting could change the way people acted, or even the outcome of a situation. For the longest time I can honestly say I just got in the zone and did my thing, and never really thought about it because, well, it just worked. Boy, was I wrong.

As journalists we often set ourselves on an ethical high horse, claiming that we are free from bias and, to the best of our abilities, present a completely objective view of the stories we tell. While this is always our goal, I can see how such a hands-off approach to my work could end up being even more harmful.

Two moments this weekend struck me, on both of my Saturday assignments.

First, in the morning as I covered the local Komen 5k race, I met a woman who was running the race in support of several family members who have struggled with cancer. As I made her portrait in the shade of a line of trees, she reached out to hold my hand as she told me stories of her personal experience facing her family member’s struggles with cancer.

Donna Cooper of Roanoke was the top individual fund raiser for the race, collecting $5,000 in donations. She participated in the race in memory of her grandmother and aunt who passed away from cancer, and her mother and sister who are survivors.

My second assignment of the day was to cover a gathering for members of the New River Community College community, where a gunman opened fire yesterday afternoon, wounding two students. As I drove down to Christiansburg I struggled with how I would approach telling the story. I knew it was a sensitive time for those involved, and that any media presence would not be especially welcome. Putting myself in the shoes of the faculty, students, and friends, I realized that perhaps letting my guard down a little bit would help me understand their feelings towards my presence.

What I never expected was, for the second time of the day, to be comforting the people I was telling the story of. As I raised my camera to make a frame of the group holding hands and bowing their heads in prayer, a hand was held out to me to hold. And I took it.

On assignment, a shared moment.

It was at this moment that it really clicked for me what our careers as photojournalists are all about, and it really has almost nothing to do with photography. It has everything to do with human beings and the moments that shape and define our lives and communities.

All these events have struck an underlying chord in how I think about photojournalism. So much of our careers, especially as students, are driven by the desire to compete and continuously improve our portfolios, to move on to bigger and better and jobs. But to what end? The people we photograph every day don’t care what awards we’ve won or even who we work for. They care about being treated like human beings.

Members of the NRCC community and support staff from various organizations link hands for a time of reflection during a gathering at GraceLife Baptist Church in Christiansburg on Saturday.