In October 2025, I had the privilege of attending the Eddie Adams Workshop in Jeffersonville, New York, and received an Eddie Award for my photo assignment: “Mi Familia.”. My assignment was to create a photo story of Jean Paul (JP) Medina. JP and his family left Colombia in the 1980s, and he found his way to the world of fine dining in NYC, working his way up to executive chef before Covid devastated the restaurant business. After some restaurant consulting gigs, JP decided to take a step back from trendy dining and rediscover why he became a chef. In November 2024, he partnered with Big Eddy Brewing Co. to open his BBQ restaurant, Smokd, in a former bank building in Narrowsburg, New York. His parents help in the kitchen, and everything about the place conveys “family.”