Weekend workshop ideas
February 15, 2013 16 Comments
1. When Shane talked about the same family owning 3 of the 5 grocery stories in the area, I knew I wanted to explore that. Saturday and Sunday are really popular grocery shopping days, so I should have lots to document. I want to see how long they’ve been there, what made them want to settle, and how they interact with their regular customers.
EDIT: I just read that Brittany got the specifics, and they’re owned by the Dill family. I’m going to head over on Monday and go find Adrian so he can talk to me about the above questions. I’m really, really excited about this idea, so everyone be a dear and tell me to pursue this one.
2. I remember Shane saying that there’s no Catholic church, but I don’t remember whether this was just in Lavonia or in the entire county. I know there has to be a Catholic family somewhere in the county, and I’d love to find them and talk to them about how they incorporate that into their lives. Do they drive a long distance to a Catholic church? How do they socialize with their neighbors when so much of small town social life revolves around the church community?
3. The Royston Animal Hospital is a large, busy vet hospital that’s been around since 1983 and founded by three UGA grads. I’d love to talk to the owners about the goings-on at the hospital- any clients with unusual pets? Any regulars that have been around from the first year? Thing is, they’re only open from 8-6 on Fridays and 8-12 on Saturdays, closed on Sundays. I’d have to find something different to shoot on Sunday if this became my main story. This might be a nice break from whatever my main story ends up being, might get some nice feature photos out of it. Also, cute puppies and kitties and the like.
Documentary Photography 
I like the grocery store idea. Brittany and I visited three of the grocery stores, and I think that a lot of the produce and baked goods come from within the county. Could make for a good story, especially with the “Farm to Table” trend.
I really like the Animal Hospital idea. You might could try to get all of your shooting for the slideshow down on Friday and Saturday, and do the other two smaller assignments primarily on Sunday if that’s an option.
I would stick to the grocery stores. There appears to be too much work and too little time for you to begin on these other story ideas.
I think interviewing the Dill family could be cool, especially if you could get the history along with some of their personal life stuff, but I would call and make sure that’s even an option first.
The grocery store piqued my interest, too – so vital, so odd that it’s still local. Lots of potential in that.
The Catholic family is a fantastic idea, but finding that family could be really hard. Any luck on tracking one down?
I honestly don’t even know where to start on finding that family. Any suggestions other than just asking around?
I like the grocery store idea! It’d be neat to hear the story of someone who runs a grocery store that isn’t corporately-owned. It definitely could be neat getting photos of the more personal relationships between the owner and customers.
Adrian is a girl, and when I talked to her, she actually gave me the phone number of a main PR guy to contact about it… I’ll have to look that up for you when I get back to Athens!
I think you should pursue the grocery store if that’s what you want to do
I really like the grocery store idea. And if lots of their produce is grown locally, thats a great angle.
The Royston Animal Hospital sticks out to me the most. I think you can catch some really tender moments between the people and the patients. Also, they are UGA alum, which brings it back home.
I’m really excited someone is exploring the grocery store idea! People are in and out of grocery stores every day. They are so necessary for a community. I think the fact that there are no commercial grocery stores is really significant!
Grocery story idea is so great! I wonder if it’s been written about in the paper? You could ask Shane about it to get more information/history?
The grocery stores are owned by the Dilworth family.
Love the grocery store story! That really stood out to me when Shane came and spoke, and one of the stores is right next to the newspaper office, so that is a bonus. I second Damien and Lyric about looking at the local produce angle. It could also be interesting to capture the general sentiments of the community towards the stores–to figure out whether people want Wal-Mart (or any corporation) or if the community is fighting to keep business local.
Other things to consider: How do prices in these stores compare to corporate grocery chains? Are the Dills a sweet, well-respected family that knows the people & that’s how they thrive? I’m sure there are some politics surrounding this (i.e. powerhouse produce farmers that sell their produce to Dill’s and lobby against corporations?) Sorry if that’s intense.. just a thought 🙂
GROCERY STORE!!!!