New Kernel photography adviser named

By Kirsten Clancy

An award-winning Kentucky photographer will be the next Kernel photography adviser.

David Stephenson, a Lexington Herald-Leader photographer since 1997, will start in his new position in mid-May, following current adviser Jim Winn’s departure to pursue other photography projects.

He will join another former Herald-Leader staff member, former newsroom design director May May Barton, who began with the Kernel in October as the student publications design adviser.

Stephenson said he dreamed of working at the Herald-Leader as a staff photographer and is sad to leave.

Stephenson

However, he wants to work on his own projects while developing the future of journalism.

Stephenson said he has been in the “real world” watching the struggles daily newspapers are encountering, including the economy, content and distribution methods. He said he hopes to teach students how to be part of the solution while giving them advice based on his experience.

“The solution to a lot of our problems will come from young adults. They are more flexible and more entrepreneurial,” he said.

Stephenson said the newspaper business is changing, with many publications going online. There are a lot more journalism outlets that require skills such as multimedia.

He said he hopes to “light a fire under some young photographers,” much like his mentor did when he was a student. He said he already sees spirit in the journalists currently working for the Kernel, and he wants to cultivate it more.

Stephenson’s goal is to continue the Kernel’s Web site, to make it a model other publications use. Also, he wants to help with storytelling projects.

“We don’t want to be about pretty pictures. We want to be about storytelling,” he said.

Stephenson is a four-time Kentucky Photographer of the Year, a two-time Regional Photographer of the Year and a two-time Kentucky Sports Photographer of the Year. Recently, he won the Pictures of the Year International Competition for best multimedia project.

Brad Luttrell, the Kernel’s editor in chief,  worked with Stephenson as an intern and called him one of the most modest photographers he knows, citing Stephenson’s yearly self-evaluation at the Herald-Leader as an example.

“He won an international competition, literally best in the world, and he wrote, ‘I did not work hard enough this year,’ ” Luttrell said.