Mississippi Today (https://mississippitoday.org/author/eshelton/)
Eric J. Shelton is a 2018 corps member in Report for America, a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms, and joined the team as our first photojournalist. Shelton began his photojournalism career with the Associated Press after graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has since worked across Texas and Mississippi as a photojournalist, most recently serving as photo editor of the Killeen Daily Herald. Throughout his career, Shelton has documented issues concerning drug abuse and poverty, and he has won awards from the Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors and the Arkansas Press Photographers Association.
Follow this slideshow of photos by photojournalist Eric J. Shelton depicting a day in the life of Delta teacher Kaitlyn Barton as she navigates through her day of teaching, working a second job and, finally, making it home to prepare for her next day in the classroom.
January saw one of the capital city’s highest homicide counts in recent memory. In this multimedia essay, some victims’ friends and family members urge us to remember them as more than just crime statistics
African American cultural traditions discourage black women and men from talking openly about intimate-partner violence. But in the era of #MeToo that could be changing.
Jackson Indie Music Week brings Mississippi artists and fans to the capital city’s most well-known venues and hot spots
Check out Mississippi Today’s year in photos, including work by photojournalist Eric Shelton
Election Day images by Mississippi Today photo journalist Eric J. Shelton
Meet some of the people holding together to a historic Jackson community
The historic Jackson neighborhood is often painted as a tale of tragedy. In reality, people who live there also embody a spirit of triumph.
The competition is a tradition at the Neshoba County Fair that dates back to the early 1900s – a tradition that embodies the racial dynamics of the event
The roots of stickball run deep in Choctaw culture. The fiercely competitive game – played long before there was football, baseball and basketball – is played with sticks and a small orange ball. Mississippi Today photographer Eric J. Shelton captured the action from the World Series of Stickball, played annually at the Choctaw Indian Fair, near Philadelphia, in this slideshow.
Marcus Alford is in Jackson teaching and training dance students during the USA International Ballet Competition. But the former student football trainer who introduced dance stretches to Coach Bear Bryant’s football team is much more than that. This week, Mississippi Today photographer Eric Shelton spent time with the graceful instructor and the dancers as these athletes worked on their craft.
Utica is a rural town that is often overlooked and left out of conversations about economic development. Yet, residents of the town are fighting for its future.