Welcome to the Fall Workshop website, designed to feature the power of creative storytelling and the work and effort of our students, faculty and industry friends as we explore the world around us during an intense three-day workshop at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in Syracuse, New York.

Founded by Multimedia Photography and Design faculty in 1999, the workshop brings top professionals from around the world to join our professors as we push students to identify, observe and artfully communicate the core of who we are and the issues we face in everyday life. In the process, students learn to better use still photography, audio, video, motion graphics, design and words to become exceptional storytellers who engage the community.

This year’s workshop involved more than 90 students whose efforts ranged from content collection to working behind the scenes on social media, copy editing, and multimedia production. This year’s theme is Family and the Living Wage. Wage disparity continues to be a core issue of life in America. President Obama has made combating wage disparity one of his primary efforts; Congress and individual states wrangle over the minimum wage as never before; poverty levels in this country are unparalleled; income distribution has never favored the wealthy more than it does now. Living wage is a theoretical wage level that allows the earner to afford adequate shelter, food and the other necessities of life.

Among the dozens of stories produced, two were recognized with special honors: Jake Herrle, a graduate student in the Multimedia Photography and Design department, won a full scholarship to a domestic workshop with Momenta Workshops for his piece, The King of Scrap. The piece was selected as the Best Overall Project of the entirety of workshop entries.

Alec Erlebacher, a graduate student in the Multimedia Photograhy and Design department, won a full scholarship to attend the Northern Short Course in Photojournalism hosted by the NPPA in March 2015. Erlebacher’s piece, A Big Bite, was voted the Best Story Concept project.

On behalf of all of us at MPD, thank you for taking the time to look at our work. We hope you might lose yourself as you walk in the footsteps of our subjects, experiencing their world and understanding yours just a little bit better.