Author

John Partipilo
Working as a photojournalist for 40 years, Partipilo has won awards such as NPPA Best of Photojournalism and nominated for two Pulitzers. His photography has also been featured in national and international publications. Most importantly Partipilo’s work is about people — people in their different environments and people in their different stages of life. That’s the heart of his work. To him people are so important, because they all have a unique story.
Photo essay: Nashville reels after six killed in Monday school shooting
By: John Partipilo - March 29, 2023
A beautiful spring morning devolved into chaos Monday, as emergency vehicles sped to the scene of a mass shooting at Covenant School in the Green Hills part of Nashville. Area schools, public and private, went on lockdown and frantic parents tried to reach their children. A shooter killed six at Covenant, including three children attending […]
“Slay hate” rally draws hundreds in Nashville
By: John Partipilo and Holly McCall - March 10, 2023
A Nashville rally sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign drew hundreds to protest recently-passed Tennessee laws that criminalize some drag performers and performances and prevent parents from providing their children with gender-affirming care. “Slay the Hate: Fight Back Tennessee,” featured appearances by several drag performers and remarks from LGBTQ leaders. The event was one of […]
A Nashville institution closes
By: John Partipilo and Holly McCall - January 8, 2023
Visitors to Nashville seeking favorite restaurants among locals have for 40 years been directed to a modest brick and cinderblock building, from which plates of roast beef and fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, turnip greens and whipped potatoes, banana pudding and improbably delicious hot pepper chocolate pie have issued by numbers uncountable. But on Saturday, […]
A civil rights leader comes home.
By: John Partipilo and Holly McCall - November 22, 2022
The campus of American Baptist College has changed little since Rev. Bernard Lafayette moved to Nashville in 1960 to attend seminary. A handful of neat red brick buildings, built in the 1920s and 30s, still cluster in the shadow of the headquarters of the newer National Baptist Convention off Brick Church Pike in North Nashville. […]
Election 2022 in photos
By: John Partipilo and Karen Pulfer Focht - November 12, 2022
Throughout the 2022 election cycle in Tennessee, photojournalists John Partipilo and Karen Pulfer Focht documented candidates — and incumbents — debating, speaking at rallies and working polls, culminating on the Nov. 8 Election Day. The pair, with an Election Day assist from Nick Fantasia, captured the stress, excitement and tension of campaigning.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn headlines anti-transgender rally in Nashville
By: John Partipilo and Holly McCall - October 21, 2022
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn joined several other Tennessee lawmakers at a rally to protest gender-affirming care for transgender youth, which drew more than 2,500 activists to Nashville’s War Memorial Plaza on Friday afternoon. Billed as “The Rally to End Child Mutilation,” the event was hosted by The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh. Walsh started a political […]
New Tennessee laws take effect, with protests accompanying
By: John Partipilo and Lookout Staff - July 4, 2022
Dozens of new laws passed in the last session of the General Assembly took effect on Friday, most of which haven’t captured the public’s attention. There’s little controversy about a law that requires utility companies to provide the estimates of connection fees to potential customers, for instance, for instance, or one that allows defendants for […]
Nashville Pride 2022
By: John Partipilo and Lookout Staff - June 27, 2022
Members of Middle Tennessee’s LGBTQ community, friends and supporters gathered Saturday and Sunday in Nashville to celebrate Pride Nashville. The event came just a day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 law legalizing abortion at the federal level, and has raised concerns the court could overturn Obergefell v. Hodges. […]
Juneteenth 2022
By: John Partipilo and Lookout Staff - June 20, 2022
Tennesseans across the state celebrated Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the date in 1865 when enslaved Texans learned they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, over the weekend. Photojournalist John Partipilo covered the Music City Freedom Fest in Nashville, which, like other events, featured speakers discussing the history of Juneteenth, food trucks and […]
Gun safety advocates take to Tennessee streets
By: John Partipilo and Lookout Staff - June 11, 2022
Laura Brown stood by a table surrounded by red, white and blue posters with drawings of the U.S. Capitol and a message: “Send a letter to Congress.” “Hello, would you like to send a letter to the Senate?” she called out. “I love these things, but people in Congress never seem to hear about them,” […]
Tennesseans petition Gov. Bill Lee for gun reform
By: John Partipilo and Lookout Staff - June 1, 2022
More than 70 Tennesseans, including several pastors, walked from Nashville’s Legislative Plaza to Gov. Bill Lee’s office on Wednesday to make a plea for gun reform. The rally comes in the wake of several high profile mass shootings, including last week’s slaughter of 19 elementary school children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in […]