Welcome to the Webbpage Blog. Home of Tim Webb Photography. Here is where you can see what really goes on in my life. Enjoy!
Annual Report Work
I did several photo shoots this past fall for East Kentucky Power, based in Winchester. They provide electric power for many of Kentucky's electric cooperatives. The body of work that I created here is for their annual report that will come out in June. Shooting for their annual report is an ongoing assignment for me each year, and I'll do several more shoots this spring. Annual Report photography is one of the biggest things that I do as a freelance corporate photographer.
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Bluegrass Station is a natural gas plant in Butler, Kentucky. This year, I set up a light system on some of the employees and then did a 10 second time exposure to burn in the background at sunset.
The Burnside Line Crew changing out a pole in rural Pulaski County.
A new solar farm was installed at Maker's Mark Distillery.
Cooper Station is a coal-fired plant in Burnside, Kentucky.
The Burnside substation crew working in Laurel County.
J.K. Smith Station is an natural gas plant in Trapp, Kentucky.
Spurlock Station is a coal-fired plant in Maysville, Kentucky.
EKPC takes their safety program very seriously by rewarding employees with what's known as Safety All Stars, like Tyler Robinette above.
As part of East Kentucky Power's philanthropy efforts, them and the co-ops help decorate the Ronald McDonald Houses in Lexington and Louisville each year for Christmas.
The Polar Express
When our kids were younger we had the Christmas Eve tradition of watching the Polar Express right before bedtime. What a great movie! This is the honest truth, one year Laura and Cameron went to the window as the movie was playing and they swore they saw Santa and his reindeer flying over the house. We knew it was true because Laura said she could hear the bells on Santa's sleigh. I didn't get up to look, but I knew she was telling the truth! Why? Because I Believe!!!
My children are all grown up now, and I am anxiously waiting on the arrival of my first grandchild, just a few days before Christmas this year. As your kids get older and your family expands, schedules change and new traditions are born. We don't get to watch the Polar Express anymore like we used to, which is why I was trilled to do a story for Kentucky Living Magazine last year on a real-live Polar Express in Stearns, Kentucky.
It was so much fun to see all these little kids experience the movie in real life. Hopefully, some day, Natalie and I can take Little Miss Baby Webb on a trip to the North Pole. Until then...here are a few photos from Stearns.
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The Bridges of Madison County
I had the opportunity to complete an assignment yesterday that I've wanted to do for a long time. I have now photographed all eleven of Kentucky's covered bridges. My inspiration for this comes from one of my all time favorite movies, The Bridges of Madison County, which was based on the 1992 book by Robert James Waller. Yes, I know it was a chic-flic but it was also a movie that treated and portrayed photography correctly and realistically.
In the movie, Clint Eastwood plays the character of National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid (who is a fictional character and never actually worked for National Geographic). Eastwood, who also directed the movie, paid close attention to the details of a photographer. The movie was set in the summer of 1965, and Kincaid was a freelance photographer out of Bellingham, Washington. He was in Iowa to document covered bridges for the Geographic. He kept his Kodachrome slide film in a cooler or a refrigerator to keep it cool. He scouted out his photos during the day but then went back when the light was good at sunset and sunrise to actually get the real stuff. And he shot with a Nikon F series camera.
There are so many movies, even today, that portray photography wrong. The one that makes me cringe is when I see a press conference in the movies and the photographers are using a flash. I'm sure they do it for the audio/visual effect, but trust me, no seasoned photographer would ever use a flash at a press conference!
There are so many things about Robert Kincaid that are relatable to me. For one thing, we're both freelance photographers making a living from one assignment to the next. Although I usually go nonstop, there are still different times of the year when work dries up for a few weeks. Being a freelancer is not for the impatient, faint-of-heart, or people who can't manage money. Secondly, I related to him because he was constantly traveling. As a National Geographic photographer, he got to travel all over the world, while I mainly crisscross the state of Kentucky. Even for this assignment, which came from Kentucky Living Magazine, I traveled to eight different Kentucky counties to document these bridges. Traveling so much can get old at times, but for the most part, I enjoy seeing our beautiful state. At the time of this writing, I've been to 117 of Kentucky's 120 counties. And I'm planning a road trip in the near future to the far reaches of Western Kentucky to get the remaining three.
In the book, Kincaid says he's "The Last Cowboy." I don't think I'm the last cowboy, but I sure do enjoy doing what I do!
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The covered bridge at Goddard in Fleming County is by-far the most picturesque, with the Goddard Methodist Church and cemetery in the background.
Walcott Covered Bridge in Bracken County.
Ringos Mill Covered Bridge in Fleming County.
Several years ago I found out that I had a half brother that I never knew about. He died in July 2019 and was brought from Ohio to be buried in South Shore, Kentucky in Greenup County. On the way home that afternoon I drove past Bennett's Mill Covered Bridge and took this picture. I titled it, The Day We Laid Shane to Rest.
Oldtown Covered Bridge in Greenup County.
The Dover Covered Bridge in Mason County is in the poorest condition of Kentucky's eleven bridges.
Johnson Creek Covered Bridge in Robertson County. Graffiti and carvings are a popular thing to do at all of the bridges, even dating back to the 1800s, when many of the bridges were built.
Colville Covered Bridge in Bourbon County.
Cabin Creek Covered Bridge in Lewis County.
A company from Vermont that specializes in restoring covered bridges is currently working to restore the Grange City Covered Bridge in Fleming County.
The last cowboy Robert Kincaid and Francesca in front of the Roseman Bridge.
Human Emotion
Let's be honest...as a Corporate and Editorial Freelance Photographer, I shoot a lot of boring stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but it can be pretty static at times with corporate events. I could let this be a crutch and approach it that way, but instead, I choose to work as hard as I can to elevate my game by making a boring subject as interesting as I can. I do this with human emotion. Just like capturing peak action with sports or news, I try to capture peak emotion with events. Sometimes, it can be as simple as a smile. The moral of this story is, you don't have to work in news or sports to be a photojournalist. You can always tell a story with the camera.
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Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Best Places to Work
Central Bank Center, Lexington, June 13, 2024
Touchstone Energy, Kentucky Special Olympics
Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, June 1, 2024
Community Action's 60th Anniversary
Embassy Suites, Lexington, June 12, 2024
International Society of Neurogastronomy Conference
University of Kentucky, Lexington, May 17, 2024
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell meets with the Kentucky Students during the Washington Youth Tour.
Kentucky Living Magazine
Washington D.C., June 20, 2024
"Step Brothers" or Employee Portraits?
Fleming-Mason Energy
Flemingsburg, June 27, 2024
The Washington Youth Tour
Kentucky Living Magazine
Washington DC, June 20, 2024
Camp Burnamwood
Stanton First Presbyterian Church
Irvine, July 25, 2024
The Kentucky Bar Association Annual Convention
Northern Kentucky Convention Center, Covington, May 9, 2024
Transylvania University, Spring Commencement
Lexington, May 25, 2024
Flashes of Hope
Norton Children's Hospital, Louisville, August 15, 2024
CASA of Madison & Clark Counties Annual Gala
Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, August 3, 2024
UK Healthcare Pharmacy Services, Research Expo
UK Chandler Hospital, Lexington, May 21, 2024
Touchstone Energy, Honor Flight Kentucky
Bluegrass Airport, Lexington, August 24, 2024
The Local Lens
I've waited over two years to make this blog post!
In May of 2022, I met Nate Brooks for lunch one day at a Korean-style seafood restaurant on Richmond Road in Lexington to discuss a large-scale photo book project that he had in mind. The seafood restaurant was a bit much, but the book project turned out to be one of the greatest photographic projects that I've ever done in my life. Nate and I are both from Powell County, but a generation apart. I went to school with his mother and have been great friends with both of his parents, Troy and Deana Brooks, for many years. It was kind of bizarre to be involved with a multi-year project with so many moving parts, with a kid that's the same age as my kids, and someone I've known, literally since he was a newborn. I'm not sure if it was bizarre because he's that young or because I'm that old, HA!
At the time, Nate was about to finish a podcast series that he did for the Powell County Health Department titled The Local Lens. The podcast was funded through the CDC in Atlanta and Nate used it as a tool to explore and to educate on all aspects of the drug epidemic. Ultimately, he did 74 episodes and interviewed over 100 people. Here are my opening comments in the book...
When I began this book project with Nate Brooks in 2022, I truly didn’t understand the depth of Powell County’s drug problem. I grew up in Powell County, specifically on Black Creek in Clay City, during the 1970s and 1980s, and was a photojournalist there in the early 1990s. There has always been a drug problem in Powell County, but it wasn’t until I came back home for a couple of months during the summer of 2020, when my father was dying of cancer, that I got a small glimpse of just how much the problem had grown since I had moved away in 1995. I realized then that something had changed and my little hometown had changed with it.
One day during that summer, I almost ran over a man who had passed out in a sharp curve beside the road with his head lying about a foot away from the white line. With a population of only 1,200 people, Clay City had over 100 homeless people living within its borders that summer, mainly because of the drug epidemic. At the same time that I was witnessing all of this, Nate was beginning to produce a podcast called "The Local Lens" highlighting the different aspects of the drug epidemic that not only had infested Powell County but Appalachia as a whole.
I soon made a correlation between addiction and a ripple. At the epicenter of the ripple effect caused by drug abuse is the user. Immediate family members are located somewhere in the first two rings of the ripple, with first responders and police officers occupying the third and fourth layer of rings. Spiritual warriors providing faith-based rehab programs and resources serve as a bridge between the user and the road to recovery in rings five and six.
As the rings of the ripple gravitate further away from the epicenter it becomes less personal, but no less important, with healthcare professionals fighting the epidemic in rings six and seven. Professionals in Frankfort, and Washington D.C. may not know the user, and the user may never know them, but they still feel the effects and they occupy the outer rings of the ripple. They too are an integral part of the road to recovery.
Then multiply all of the rings times every user in Powell County. Then multiply the rings of every user in Kentucky. Then Appalachia. Then the United States. Many of the rings overlap and share similar threads of the story. It’s overwhelming to think about all of the people who are affected by this monster and the countless toll that it has taken on so many lives.
For me, creating this photo book was extremely personal. I haven’t lived in Powell County for nearly 30 years, as Richmond is where I live, but Clay City will always be my home. My genuine hope is that this book will somehow make a difference as we tell the story.
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This photo of Misty Dehart standing in a field of mustard flowers, in an area of Powell County known as Turkey Knob, became the signature photo and cover for the book. Misty, who has been in recovery for several years and is now a nurse, represented freedom from addiction. I called it the Titanic pose. Photographically, I wanted to create an angle that people weren't used to seeing. People are used to driving down KY HWY 15/11 looking out at the flowers, but not in the flowers looking back.
Powell County minister Brad Epperson helps inmates transition back into life outside of jail with the Substance Abuse Program (SAP) at the Powell County Detention Center.
Rebecca Stone analyzes suspected drugs that have been confiscated by local police departments in Central Kentucky at the Kentucky State Police crime lab in Frankfort.
The needle exchange program at the Powell County Health Department.
Nate interviewing nurse practitioner Heather Deel during the series' last episode at WSKV radio station in Stanton, December 2022.
With Powell County having one of the highest overdose rates per capita in the country, Jazmen Thorpe is one of many of a generation of children who have grown up witnessing the terrible effect and the grip that drugs have had on their parents.
Responding to the drug epidemic can be extremely expensive for a small rural community with law enforcement and first responders. Former Powell County Judge Executive James Anderson advocated a proactive approach to the problem, such as the Syringe Service Program at the health department. Sadly, Judge Anderson died in an accident before the book was completed.
Stanton Police Officer Ian Morton, above, and Clay City Police Officer Rob Williams, below, are on the front lines of Powell County's drug epidemic.
Oshia Haddix runs the Powell County Homeless Coalition in the Bottoms of Clay City.
The book expanded beyond Powell County by looking at programs in neighboring Montgomery County, with Tabitha and Tony Barrett leading Recovery Montgomery County, top, and Angie Gregory, above, with the Montgomery County Health Department, running a program that works with women in the Montgomery County jail who have been arrested on drug charges, which is about 85 percent of the women there.
I didn't want all of my healthcare professional photos to look the same, so I asked my childhood friend Dr. Julie Kennon to roll her pant legs up and wade out into Hardwicks Creek in Clay City with her white coat and stethoscope, because her medical career was literally born out of Hardwicks Creek, where she fell out of a tree in middle school and broke her back. Dr. Kennon still practices in her hometown of Clay City.
Dr. Taufik Kassis at his clinic in Stanton.
Nurse Practitioner Scott Seitz in Winchester.
Nurse Practitioner Heather Deel at her clinic in Stanton.
Husband and wife team John and Donna Isfort at their clinic in Irvine.
Jenell Brewer is at the epicenter in the battle against addiction in Powell and several surrounding counties with Casey's Law and SPARK Ministries.
Estill County coroner Jimmie Wise and his wife Sheila have seen more than their fair share of overdoes in neighboring Estill County.
Lisa Coffey and Jeanette and Wayne Ross, affectionately known as Pastor and Momma, lead a very effective faith-based recovery program at Shepherd's Shelter Ross Rehab in Mount Sterling.
Paula Adams of Irvine, holds a picture of her son Dalton, who died of a drug overdose in 2019.
Van Ingram is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Policy in Frankfort.
Jerrica Brandenburg, an alcohol and drug counselor at Marcum & Wallace Hospital in Irvine, holds a box of Narcan that is somewhat of a miracle-drug that has saved so many people from dying of an overdose.
Marti Hackworth, Laura Helvey, and Rebecca Wolfinbarger lead a Narcotics Anonymous (Nar-Anon) meeting for mothers of kids suffering from Substance Abuse Disorder.
Neil Hamilton and David Howard of the Powell County Detention Center see the revolving-door effect of repeat offenders.
Powell County native Will Arvin, who went from a hardcore drug user to an evangelist and church pastor, had an incredible story to tell. Will, who now lives in Fort Gay, West Virginia, just randomly raised his Bible into the air as I was finishing his shoot in the rain, near a crossroad with two iron bridges. It was a great impromptu moment!
Powell County Health Department Public Health Director Stacy Crase approaches the epidemic with a concept known as harm reduction, which accepts the fact that, for better or worse, drug use is part of our world, and works to minimize the harmful effects of drug use rather than just ignore it or condemn it.
What started in May of 2022 finally came full-circle August 21, 2024, with a celebration and launch of the book in Stanton.
A few behind-the-scenes, top, working down...Nate's Mom Deana helped me with some of the early photo shoots while Nate was off hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Nate and I had an all-day design session in the basement of his parent's house when he came home from graduate school in May.
The funniest thing happened in June...we decided to order a few books to proof one last time before making the large run later in the month. Nate was working an internship in Washington DC and I was in DC for the Washington Youth Tour when the books arrived. While my copy was home in Richmond on my desk, Nate brought his copy to my hotel and we looked at it together in the lobby of the Crystal City Marriott. Looking at the book together like that, after so much hard work and time was very gratifying.
Like I said in my opening...working on this book was extremely personal. Richmond is where I live, but Clay City will always be my home.