A group of 60 gathered Wednesday, April 30, 2025, to celebrate the photography created by students participating in the Talmadge Moore LeGrand Photojournalism Workshop led by instructor Renée Ittner-McManus.
The reception showcased images produced during the March workshop, when 20 student photographers arrived before dawn at the Springdale Racecourse to cover the 90th running of The Carolina Cup, a steeplechase event in Camden.
Over the course of a 17-hour day, students captured a range of images from beautiful, silhouetted horses and trainers in the pre-dawn light, to the pounding hooves of a half dozen horses racing to the finish line, producing a vivid visual narrative of this annual spring tradition.
The reception included remarks by CIC Dean Tom Reichert, SJMC director Damion Waymer and donor Janet Tarbox who funds the workshop in memory of her husband, Tal. Students Sydney Dunlap and Nick Hill shared their first-hand account of the workshop, describing it as a highlight of their college experience and expressing their gratitude to Tarbox for making it all possible.
The Talmadge Moore LeGrand Photojournalism Scholarships of $500 each were awarded to visual communications students Jack Bradshaw and Augusta Lewis for their exemplary portfolio of images produced from the workshop.
The top images from the workshop were published in The State newspaper photo gallery.
Visual communications student Julia Spies presented her mini documentary that included coverage of the event and an interview with Tarbox who reflected on how meaningful this partnership has been.
"To think that this one class could be life-changing for somebody, much less influence a whole career, makes me know this is the right thing to do," Tarbox said during her video interview. "If his (Tal's) inspiration ... how he inspired me... if I can turn that around and inspire people, then maybe this is what I was born for."
The workshop is part of a journalism special topics course, A Photojournalism Adventure at the Carolina Cup: The Thrill of the Chase, offered each spring. Photojournalist Yoshi James from the San Francisco Chronicle, freelance Beaufort-based photographer John Wollwerth, Allison Isley with the with the Winston-Salem Journal and Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez, the first woman photographer in the NFL and current Charlotte Observer staff photographer, served as photo mentors during the three-day workshop.