Some small towns bring in big awards, and when it comes to photography, Jasper, Indiana has had more than its fair share of trophies. They can throw another one on the pile now that Dave Weatherwax has won the National Press Photographers Association's Smaller Markets Photographer of the Year award for the second time in a row.
"I'm my hardest critic and I look at things like this [award] and still and wonder why, or how," says a humble Weatherwax.
The winning portfolio included stories about a farm family that raises and slaughters pigs, a woman's struggle with Altzheimer's and a young man living with a prosthetic leg after a lawn mower accident (the gallery above is an abbreviated selection). As chief photographer at the local paper, The Herald, Weatherwax has built a rapport with the community and the pictures reflect it.
With the Schwenk family, for example, he spent several days making pictures as they slaughtered 16 hogs. It's a decades-long tradition in which they take great pride and Weatherwax says he was made to feel like part of the family. "They were just a riot, it was probably the most fun I've ever had telling a story," he says.
Weatherwax makes his own luck with his experience and skill, but he's also fortunate to work at The Herald. For years that paper has pumped out some of the country's best documentary photography. It's famous for its Saturday features, which highlight photo stories the staff work on for months at a time.
"I'm just a small blip on the map in terms of the tradition of the Saturday feature, its been around much longer than me," Weatherwax says. "But it's a wonderful opportunity."
Working in a town like Jasper is also an advantage. It's small – only 15,000 people – but filled with events and people that make for great pictures. There were the kids, for example, who hid in the hunting blind at a football game as part of a theatrical production – a scene you might only find in a place like Jasper.
The amount of time it takes to make intimate photos and complete these long-form stories isn't always appreciated by readers. Weatherwax and the two other photographers at the paper also have to cover daily assignments, and Weatherwax has a growing family. He has a four-year-old daughter and his son was born just as he started to work on some of the stories that won him the award.
"My wife is amazing and I couldn't do it without her understanding," he says. "She has way more patience than I deserve."
With his awards and body of work, Weatherwax could easily move to bigger markets and build a name for himself. He's only 31. But he says he knows he has it good in Jasper and has no plans to leave any time soon.
"The reality is there just aren't that many places get the opportunity to tell stories like we do," he says.
