Without mentors and practical experience, where is the next generation of news gatherers gaining insight into the process?
The Photographic Media Workshop at Black Mountain Blues Experience will create a unique hands-on learning experience for local NC media/journalism students. Led by four industry veterans in print photojournalism, and have all participated in the transition to digital capture and delivery. The four day workshop, September 24 27, 2026, using the music festival as the backdrop, is open to college-level media/journalism students.
Participating students will receive lodging, workshop and access to the media lab, and venue passes. The students will hold copyright to all they produce, Black Mountain Blues Experience will retain the right to use your content for promotion and editorial in exchange for your participation.
The proposed number of students is 12, with all attendees sharing portfolios prior to the workshop and writing an email saying “what you expect to gain at an event like this.”
The students will meet for the first time on Thursday, September 24, 2026, beginning at 1pm for the workshop’s Seminar Day, culminating with a social meeting with the festival volunteers and promoters. Faculty introductions, portfolio reviews, goal setting, and Q&As with a new media publisher and a social media guru, will lead the curriculum. Beginning Friday, the faculty and students will work as a team, like a news bureau at a large event, creating and delivering content in real-time. Students will experience the different roles required and have industry mentors to guide them for portfolio level results.
Our Workshop Faculty is:
Mark D Phillips photojournalism career began as a staff photographer in 1978 at the Morganton (NC) News Herald. taking him to newspapers in Georgia, Florida and ultimately New York City. A digital pioneer, he was one of the first photographers to transmit photographs over the Internet from Africa and China. “Satan in the Smoke” from 9/11 became one of the first digital viral Internet sensations.
Chuck Bigger has documented “Weekend of Jazz at The Broadmoor” in Colorado Springs since its inception 25 years ago, creating a body of images of music legends spanning decades. A graduate of Randolph Community College his award winning work for humanitarian organizations like Compassion International and SIGN Fracture Care International, took him to sixty countries around the world documenting natural disasters, pandemics, and poverty issues in under resourced communities across five continents.
Greg Stewart headed the Photography program at Randolph Community College prior to retiring and has agreed to join the faculty to share his insight and skills. Greg began his career at the Raleigh News & Observer and Florida Times-Union before returning to his alma mater and spending 30 years at RCC, serving as photography lab manager, instructor, department chair for the photography program, and eventually division chair for the photography, advertising and graphic design, and interior design programs.
Neil Jacobs boasts a 50+ year career as a photographer working in photojournalism, film and TV. His street photography is striking, with his current project,”Asheville, North Carolina”, both a learning experience and homage to his new hometown. His journalism career began in the mid 1970’s as a photo contributor at the Point Reyes Light Weekly newspaper, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Public Service for their investigation of Synanon. From there, he found work with several newspapers in New Mexico and settled-in at the Santa Fe bureau of the Albuquerque Journal for over 10-years. After 20-years as a journalist, he moved to Los Angeles to work in the TV and motion picture business as an on-set still photographer, continuing as a stringer for the Associated Press.
The Black Mountain Blues Experience enters its second year, following a remarkable debut on the first anniversary of Hurricane Helene, which devastated the region. The inaugural event entitled “A Celebration of Resiliency” was both emotional and a successful launch into a new future. The Photographic Media Workshop will provide your students both personal and professional growth, and a behind the scenes look at The Black Mountain Blues Experience while helping build their archive in today’s media formats.
The Photographic Media Workshop Schedule:
Thursday September 24, 2026
1 to 5pm — Seminar Afternoon
• Portfolio review
• Meet the Faculty,
• Social Media message, New Media Publisher
• Story ideas and discussions
• Volunteer, Staff Social TBD
Friday September 25, 2026
10am to end of shows;
Venue Tours
coverage planning
• Assigned performances
• Image Review
Saturday September 26, 2026
10am to end of shows;
• Assigned performances
• Social Media posts * Website updates *Reels
• Image Review
Sunday September 27, 2026
10am to end of shows;
• Assigned performances
• Image Review
• Photograph of the Weekend award
• Social media post award
• Instagram Reel award