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Rowan County in the camera’s eye

by Mountain Workshops
Katie Salyer, 27, lets filly Lucille nuzzle her hand as she works with her on her horse farm in Morehead. Katie always dreamed of running her own farm. When she attended Morehead State University and discovered the school had a stable but no pasture for turnout, she knew she had to start her horse-boarding business in Morehead. | Photo by Alyssa Keown

With 48 photojournalists roaming the county for five days, hundreds of photographs reveal the beauty of the land and the spirit of its people. Here are some of the best.

Grace Edens has breakfast with her boyfriend, John Kincaid (J.D.) in the Morehead State University dining common before class. Grace and J.D. are both students with the Craft Academy for Academic Excellence in Science and Mathematics. | Photo by Anna Miller
A fishing boat operated by Tony Grant, a local guide, drifts along the shore of Cave Run Lake as Tony's clients cast toward the bank, near weed beds, in hopes of catching muskie. Tony turned his fishing hobby into a job and has worked as a guide since 1992. | Photo by James Collier
Addison, 8, pushes Caidean, 2, up a small hill in the backyard of their grandfathers home in Rowan County. | Photo by Zac Popik
Stars illuminate the night sky above a home in Fleming County. Fleming is situated in the hills northwest of Morehead. The house belongs to an entrepreneurial couple who built an apartment in their barn and now rent out their house using Airbnb. The photo was taken from the porch of the barn. | Photo by Demitri Staszewski
Jenny Garcia and Nery Reyes worship at an evening church service at Iglesia Cristiana Bet-el, the only church in Morehead, Kentucky, for Spanish speakers. The church practices I.C.I.A.R., a Christian denomination popular in Mexico. Jenny, originally from El Salvador, says, 'I pray for my family and that more people come to Jesus. | Photo by Anna Miller
Tom Timmermann, District Fisheries Biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, receives a hug from 3-year-old daughter Caelin while waiting for food at Pop's BBQ. Tom and and his wife of five years, Jen, both work demanding jobs, which can make the logistics of raising and supervising a child difficult to manage. | Photo by Lydia Schweickart
Artist Sam McKinney's three-level house is quiet except for the shuffling of his feet as he moves from room to room, either working, cooking meals, or watching television. He divorced six years ago – the same year his father died. His daughter lives away from home. His best friend visits a couple times a week from Huntington, West Virginia, which is 45 minutes away. Their friendship is very valuable, Sam says. "True friends are just as important as family." | Photo by Sung Chul Lee
Robyn Cline, 52, beauty salon owner, connects her work to her relationship with God. Robyn shows her client and childhood friend Joanie Conn how she plans to frame the face by cutting certain sections of hair. Robyn and Joanie have known each other since freshman year in high school, and clients of Robyn are often longtime friends. | Photo by Caroline Brehman
Morehead State University student Audrey Emery, 21, gives Jimmy Dean some special attention and a welcome treat as she cleans the hog's pen in the gestation barn. Audrey is a senior pre-veterinary medicine student who lives and works on the university farm. Jimmy is a herd boar for the farm's swine program. | Photo by Fran Ruchalski