Newhouse students document lives of Syracuse families this week as part of annual Fall Workshop

Seventy multimedia photography and design (MPD) students from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications will spend Oct. 11-14 documenting the lives of families across Syracuse as part of the school’s annual Fall Workshop.

The students will use photography, recorded sound, video and writing to tell their stories, focusing on the theme of resilience in families. Their work will be published online at www.TheFallWorkshop.com and in an iPad magazine.

“The Fall Workshop is often cited by students as one of the best educational opportunities they had during their time at Newhouse,” says Bruce Strong, chair of MPD and director of the workshop. “We are grateful to all the professional coaches who give freely of their time to help our students grow, and to the community, which opens its doors and allows us to take a closer look at our society.”

“Home base” for the workshop will be Newhouse 3, where 25 photojournalists, video producers, graphic designers, photo editors and other types of visual communicators from across the country will provide the students with advice and guidance.

In addition, an opening event will feature speakers Melanie Burford and Ross Taylor on Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. in Room 101, Newhouse 1.

Award-winning photojournalist Burford will speak on “From the Heart: Finding Stories You Care About.” Buford was part of a team of Dallas Morning News photographers that received the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. In 2009, she won the Emmy Award for her portfolio of video documentary work at the Lone Star Emmy Advanced Media Awards. Her work has been recognized by the 74th annual National Headliner Awards, the Harry Chapin Media Awards, the Clarion Awards, the Best of Photojournalism and the Pictures of the Year International.

Taylor, a photojournalist for the Virginian-Pilot, will speak on “Open the Mind: How Mental Approach Can Greatly Shape Outcome.” Taylor is the winner of this year’s Photojournalist of the Year award from the National Association of Press Photographers. Formerly on staff at the Hartford Courant, he has won many international, national and regional awards, including an AP Photos of the Century award. He is lead creator of the weekly photographic blog The Image, Deconstructed (theimagedeconstucted.com).

Follow the workshop as it unfolds on the website, and on Facebook and Twitter (@TheFallWorkshop and #TFW12).

The weekend will conclude with a community screening on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Halmi Screening Room, 141 Newhouse 3.

For more information about the workshop, contact Nancy Austin at 315-443-4082 or njaustin@syr.edu.