A Day at Paquin Towers

I cannot express enough how grateful I am that I came to Missouri for school. Friday was one of the most challenging, invigorating, and rewarding experiences I’ve ever had as a photographer. Danny Wilcox Frazier came to lead an all-day workshop in photojournalism. His work is so impressive and his attitude toward the craft is admirable to say the least. There were eleven photographers in the workshop and I was by far the youngest/least-experienced person there. It was a little intimidating at first, but everyone was so welcoming and helpful to me that I never felt my skill level or age was a factor. Each of the photographers was assigned a resident of Paquin Towers in Columbia, an apartment building that houses the retired and disabled for little rent. The place is full of character and definitely has its high and low points. It was great that we had so many different perspectives in the final edit- some people love Paquin, others seem to be trapped there. I was assigned Karin Davis, a 60-year-old retired Personal Care Attendant originally from Columbia. She was delightful and warm to me and I was so happy to be able to make a personal connection with her. She has been a pagan for over thirty years and says small prayers, performs rituals, and says healing spells throughout the day. She was smoking a tobacco pipe about half of the 6 hours I was there, breaking sometimes to puff from her inhaler. Her fibromyalgia makes it difficult for her to walk and do many things for herself, so she uses a motorized scooter outside and a cane in her apartment. She has a homemaker that does her laundry, cleans her house, and helps her with many other tasks. Despite being ridden to her couch for much of the day, Karin receives phone calls almost constantly. She plays mediator between her friends and seems to solve problems easily with her advice. It was a difficult situation to photograph because the apartment was fairly small and she moved very little, but I am so happy with what I produced and combined with all of the other stories from Paquin the photos are very moving.





























For work from other shooters in the workshop, check out these blogs:

Josh Bickel
Amanda Lucier
John Tully
John Hook
Zach Siebert
Cat Szalkowski
Catalin Abagiu
Elan Colello
Suzy Lafferty
Sheila Johnson