Bryce Towle
Photography
Thorough my experience as a photojournalist I have created a diverse catalog of photo stories and photography. As a nationally awarded collegiate photographer I was able to rank 16th in the Hearst National Photojournalism Competition in June of 2024. Throughout my time at the University of Kentucky I was a consistent member of the Picture Kentucky workshop, a four day photojournalism retreat constructed by Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Media David Stephenson.
16th in the Hearst National Photojournalism Competition in June of 2024
Denise Waddell is taking it from the basketball court to the homecoming court. Waddell isn’t your average high school student. A 17-year-old senior at Western Hills High School in Franklin County, Waddell is what some would consider to be a jack-of-all-trades. She’s a member of the marching band, jazz band, symphonic band, beta club, national honors, Future Farmers of America and a point guard on the girl’s basketball team. To top it all off, she has a 4.3 GPA. Now, she is adding something new to her resume: being on the 2023 Western Hills homecoming court. Waddell was born in the Philippines and moved to Frankfort, Kentucky, when she was 4-years-old. “I’ve made a lot of friends here, I enjoy that the most,” Waddell said about Western Hills High School. Basketball has been a part of Waddell’s life since she was in the fourth grade and trumpet since the sixth grade. Waddell was “surprised” to find out she got nominated for homecoming court. “I don’t even know who nominated me,” she said. “Someone had nominated me from a different class, I’m shocked honestly.” She went on to explain how she felt the homecoming court wasn’t such a big worry for her. “Honestly this is a popularity contest and I’ve never really been into that kind of stuff because I don’t really care much for that,” she said. Waddell was given the option to choose between wearing her band uniform or her homecoming dress when marching onto the football field for the homecoming game. She chose the dress. Denise marched onto the field dressed to the nines, complemented by nearly everyone she passed. When the time came for the announcement of king and queen, Waddell was accompanied by fellow student Tyler Woolridge. As they gazed upon the crowd, silence filled the air. And while Waddell would not go home with a crown, she left the field grateful. “Regardless, I was just happy to be a part of the court,” she said. “Whatever the outcome was, I knew it was just a popularity contest, and doesn’t define my character. It shows how many people know you on a surface level and I know that people enjoy me the most once they know me on a surface level.” “A wonderful night for Denise” was produced during the 2023 Picture Kentucky Workshop in Frankfort, Kentucky, where students were randomly assigned subjects in the area to follow and complete a photo story over the course of four days.
Denise Waddell gathers her school supplies from the trunk of her car to prepare for school on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, at Western Hills High School in Frankfort, Kentucky. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Denise Waddell reacts to a conversation between her friends Lydia Simpson pictured on the left and Holland Riddell pictured on the right on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, at Western Hills High School in Frankfort, Kentucky. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Kaelyn Brooker applies mascara to Denise Waddell, doing the “mascara face,” in her home on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, in Frankfort, Kentucky. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Samantha Ramsey, a majorette pictured on the left, plays next to Denise Waddell, on the Western Hills football field during the halftime band performance Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, in Frankfort, Kentucky. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Kaelyn Brooker grabs Denise Waddell's face with excitement after Waddell walks off the football field from the homecoming ceremony Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, in Frankfort, Kentucky. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Nominated for the Hearst National Photojournalism Competition of 2023
Through the twists, turns, ups and downs of Bald Knob road, you’ll find yourself “a pitstop,” this country oasis some call home. They call them locals. The everyday men, women, and children that stop by the local Bald Knob Little Market call this place a second home. Characterized by the familiar faces of locals, owners Dan Midkiff and Katie Clark ask their favorite quote “Why go into town?”. Nearly one hundred years ago when the Little Market opened, it was named Wrights Grocery, consisting of local tobacco farmers holding store credit and selling their tobacco to the residents of Frankfort. Five years ago two entrepreneurs Dan Midkiff and Katie Clark decided to buy Wrights Grocery, and follow their dreams of owning a small local store. “Isn’t that every man's dream?” Midkiff said. Local loggers greet Dan and Katie before the rooster crows to grab themselves a free cup of coffee. Early risers can expect the Little Market to be crowded with blue-collar natives cracking jokes, and conversing about the rich history of the community. “It ain't like no big city man, I bet you could walk up to any one of these houses and they’d feed you dinner.” Local Mike Stanley said. “We’re doing God’s work,” Dan states as he explains that the loud constant hum attributed to the free-to-use air compressor. Locals also use the retro fuel dispensers around the shop to fill their cars but also to get a classic taste of what it might have been like years ago. “My heart is in the country and I’ve gotten to know a lot more people just by coming in here on Wednesdays,” Rachel Clark said, daughter to Katie Clark.
Owners Dan Midkiff and Katie Clark bump cigarettes outside Bald Knob Little Market, what they call their “second home,” in Frankfort, Kentucky on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Locals Tim Lawson, and Timothy Fleeman converse outside of Bald Knob Little Market in Frankfort, Kentucky on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Mike Stanley comforts his cat Bubbles at Bald Knob Little Market in Frankfort, Kentucky on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Ed Henson plays guitar for Bald Knob Little Market locals in Frankfort, Kentucky on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Store owner Dan Midkiff high-fives local patron Mike Stanley, Frankfort, Kentucky on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. Photo by Bryce Towle.
Under the early morning mist amid Kentucky’s rolling hills lies what Donnya Shryock says is a “secret place” called Tyrone. What was once referred to as a “knife and gun club,” by Shryock, is now described by Jessica Stratton as “the best place in the world.” Stratton, born and raised in Tyrone, said people tell their kids not to drive through the community. “They focus on every bad thing that's ever happened,” Stratton said. With a former bar located “in the sticks,” of Tyrone known as The Bloody Bucket, some may find it hard to imagine a safe and caring community. The sound of gunshots and revving engines comes from the elderly on their private gun range and children riding dirt bikes nearby. “It’s the safest I've ever felt,” Stratton said. “All the people looking out for each other.” One local known as “Corky” doesn’t have city water, so he gets his drinking water from someone else's tap every morning using a gallon water jug. Stratton plans to install water hydrants to share with Corky. Stratton had moved away when she was younger, but Tyrone drew her back home. Now she hopes to help the people of her community, including in her new career in drug treatment and recovery. “Helping people makes me happy,” she said. “You turn into the person you needed as a child, and I can’t turn it off. I genuinely love broken people because they're so honest and I like to help them. They’re us.” At the end of Tyrone Main Street near the bank of the Kentucky River sits a two-story farmhouse, painted in red-and-white stripes because of what was once a neighborly feud. With two pride flags waving at the entrance, the farmhouse’s land is home to miniature and full-size horses, goats, chickens, mules, and donkeys. Owners and partners Kevin Cornett and John Ireland live atop a hill adjacent to the farmhouse. The couple share their love of the land with the locals of Tyrone. Situated at the bottom of a holler, Tyrone has been looked down upon literally and figuratively. But locals take pride in calling themselves Tyronians. “It is portrayed as a very unwelcoming place,” Stratton said, “and it’s the opposite.”
Owners and partners Kevin Cornett and John Ireland laugh as they pose for a portrait with their mule Rona in front of their farmhouse property, on Oct. 25, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky. The farmhouse was painted in red-and-white stripes because of what was once a neighborly feud.
Steve Shryock unloads his shotgun as smoke and shells are expelled after skeet shooting on his property on Oct. 25, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky. Shryock is a level-one shooting instructor who shoots on his property with his friends and family.
Todd “Shaggy” Brown takes a drag from his cigarette during a conversation in front of Jessica Stratton’s mobile home on Oct. 23, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky.
Abandoned cars fill the back lawn of a house in Tyrone secluded in a wooded area on Oct. 23, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky.
Tears fall from Jessica Stratton’s face from the sunlight as she poses for a portrait on Oct. 24, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky.
The sun rises over Kevin Cornett and John Ireland’s property on Oct. 25, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky. Tyrone is a small community that was once referred to as a “knife and gun club,” according to Donnya Shryock, but is now described by Jessica Stratton as “the best place in the world.”