Missouri Photo Workshop

The Missouri Photo Workshop is an annual week-long photojournalism workshop based in different small towns throughout Missouri. Founded in 1949 by the "Father of Photojournalism" Cliff Edom along with American economist, federal government official, and photographer Roy Stryker and photographer Russell Lee, the workshop originally sought to instruct others in photojournalism based on the "gritty, content-rich photographs" produced by the pre-World War II (pre-1939) Farm Security Administration, a United States government effort during the Great Depression to combat American rural poverty. Following Edom's credo - "Show truth with a camera. Ideally truth is a matter of personal integrity. In no circumstances will a posed or faked photograph be tolerated." - each workshop originates in a different small town in Missouri, which is used as a backdrop for attendees from the United States and other countries to work on photograph storytelling methods such as research, observation, and timing. Missouri Photo Workshop faculty members have included the White House's first photo editor and NPPA Picture Editor of the Year Sandra Eisert and other prominent photojournalists.