Jonathan Phillips

I am shooting a long term project on a high school junior named Alex. Alex was placed in a wheelchair after a car wreck left him paralyzed. He spent a month recovering from his injuries at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. A few weeks ago Alex joined his school’s track team and today he participated in his second meet. Today was also the first time Alex got to compete against other students in wheelchairs. Alex competed in the 200 and 800 yard dashes and the shot put placing first in both of the track events and second in the field. Alex and his family have been very generous to allow me into their lives so here is an excerpt from the longer story.

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So i found out last night that the results are in for the Georgia Press Association’s Monthly Clip Contest for January. I placed twice. Second place for Sports and third place for Single Feature.

This photo was taken during the State Tournament Championship meet at the Macon Centreplex. Collins Hill vs. Pope High School.

This photo was taken during the Polar Bear Swim at Lake Lanier in Gainesville. Pretty much the southern version of the famed Polar Bear Swims of the north. New Years Day you get dressed up and decide to throw yourself into a freezing body of water.

Last night I shot the first ever Quidditch Match between Parkview and Brookwood. Yes, straight from the Harry Potter series and complete with broomsticks the two teams battled over the quaffle using skill and bludgers (dodgeballs). Brookwood was leading Parkview until the end of the third period where the Golden Snitch streaked across the field finally being caught by Parkview thus earning them 150 points and ending the game. So very funny and amusing…

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I went to Piedmont Park in downtown Atlanta today just to shoot around with my buddy Josh. The first signs of spring time for Atlanta with a mid-70s degree day.

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Tonight was one of the most exciting games in high school basketball that I have seen in a while. A close score the entire game, Norcross goes up by two points with 2.4 seconds left in the game to take the win over Walton during state tournament play. All I can really say is wow.

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These are the award winning photographs I shot for 2008.

This photo won first place at the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar for Military Photograph.

This photo took second place for Georgia Press Association’s Monthly Clip Contest for November in Sports.

This photo took third place for Georgia Press Association’s Monthly Clip Contest for November in General News.

This photo took first place for Georgia Press Association’s Monthly Clip Contest for December in General News.

This photo took second place for Georgia Press Association’s Monthly Clip Contest for December in Sports.

The Big Apple Circus has come to Stone Mountain Park. Tonight they performed a special show for children who are vision and hearing impaired. They had headphones giving a play by play description of the action going on in the ring for the kids who could not see and sign language interpreters for those that could not hear. After the show they invited a few of the children and their families into the ring to experience some of the sensations of the performers, their costumes, their animals and some of the stunts that they performed. It was a very cool experience.

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Photos from the GHSA AAAAA State Swimming Finals at Westminster School in Atlanta.  I can still smell the chlorine in my nostrils.

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I shot this assignment for the Gwinnett Daily Post last night.  Berkmar played South Gwinnett and South won by a small margin.  The game went back and forth pretty much the entire evening with the score seeming to flip-flop by two or three points every time the players went up and down the court.
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