First Book Prize | Announcement of Second Biennial Winner

CDS > Awards > First Book Prize in Photography > Announcement of Second Biennial Winner

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	Steven B. Smith Wins First Book Prize in Photography For His Series on the Constructed Landscapes of the American West Steven B. Smith, a photography professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, has been selected to receive the second Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography for his stunning black-and-white photographs of the surreal intersection of suburbia and desert in California, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado. Maria Morris Hambourg, curator in charge of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Photographs, was the prize’s judge. She chose Smith for the prize “because of his intelligent choice of a subject hidden in full view that is of paramount importance. The mindless subjugation of the land to lockstep suburbia is wretched even when carried out in more forgiving terrain, but in an ecosystem as fragile as the desert, this misuse will be fatal unless it is shown and stopped.” “Smith’s book about this short-sighted undertaking will be by turns humorous and piteous, elegiac and ironic, and cumulatively very powerful,” Hambourg continued, “for he has shaped an essay from aesthetically elegant, delicately nuanced pictures that are pitch perfect, in the spirit of the American West and in keeping with its long history of fine photographs.” Smith will receive a grant of $3,000, publication of a book of photography, and inclusion in an exhibition of prizewinners. Hambourg will write the introduction for the book, which will be published in fall 2005 by Duke University Press in association with CDS Books of the Center for Documentary Studies. Smith, who has a master’s degree from the Yale School of Art, has been awarded a Guggenheim and an Aaron Siskind Fellowship for Photography. This collection of photographs of the manmade Western landscape will be his first book. “In 1991 I moved to Los Angeles and was so astounded by what I saw happening to the landscape as it was being developed that I started photographing it immediately,” said Smith. “The landscapes I saw were scraped bare, re-sculpted, sealed, and then covered so as not to erode away before the building process could be completed. These places were areas of change and transition revealing what the land had recently been and its future course. Water use in these landscapes is a central component of this project . . . water is imported, tightly controlled, hoarded, and an element to barricade against.” These images create, in Smith’s words, “a portrait of the systems of control which prepare the land for habitation and also guard them against nature. In making these photographs I wanted the manmade and natural elements of the landscape within each picture to communicate in a more extended and elaborate dialogue.” Smith’s work was selected from close to three hundred entries in the second biennial First Book Prize competition. Lisa Kessler, a freelance photographer based in Boston, received an Honorable Mention for her photographs on the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis. Maria Morris Hambourg admired her work “because of the seriousness and difficulty of her subject, which is of its very nature shameful and invisible. Her imaginative and foresightful treatment of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy is distinguished by an incisive choice of incident and succinct and graphic framing. Over a long period Kessler tracked not only newsworthy events and public demonstrations, but also private vistas of personal vulnerability, cowardice, anger, and relief to paint a complex picture of the long-term individual and collective consequence of these abominable crimes.” The biennial Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize competition is open to American photographers of any age who have never published a book-length work and who use their cameras for creative exploration, whether it be of places, people, or communities; of the natural or social world; of beauty at large or the lack of it; of objective or subjective realities. The prize honors work that is visually compelling, that bears witness, and that has integrity of purpose. American photographers who are pursuing work of creative or social importance have too few opportunities for support and recognition. This is especially true when photographers are engaged in personal or in-depth projects that do not have direct commercial appeal. While there are other sources for grants and fellowships in photography, the chance to see a body of work in print, as a coherent book-length work, is rare. Concerned about this problem and recognizing their shared interests, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and The Honickman Foundation, based in Philadelphia, came together to create this new and important book-publication prize. Kansas-based photographer Larry Schwarm won the inaugural prize competition for his series of color images capturing dramatic prairie fires that take place in his native state each spring. Renowned photographer Robert Adams, the prize’s inaugural judge, said, “Larry Schwarm’s photographs of fire on the prairie are so compelling that I cannot imagine any later photographer trying to do better. His pictures convince us that seemingly far away events are close by, relevant to any serious person’s life.” Schwarm’s book, On Fire, is in its second printing. The next First Book Prize in Photography competition will be held in 2006. Gallery • *How to Order The Weather and a Place to Live: Photographs of the Suburban West* by Steven B. Smith • Read an interview with Steven B. Smith • Audio/video of Steven B. Smith talk in Perkins Library, Duke University (November 10, 2005)** • Also of note: Robert Pinsky, former Poet Laureate, cites The Weather and a Place to Live and the animated television series South Park as among the most notable cultural happenings of 2005 The Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University teaches, engages in, and presents documentary work grounded in collaborative partnerships and extended fieldwork that uses photography, film/video, audio, and narrative writing to capture and convey contemporary memory, life, and culture. CDS values documentary work that balances community goals with individual artistic expression. CDS promotes documentary work that cultivates progressive change by amplifying voices, advancing human dignity, engendering respect among individuals, breaking down barriers to understanding, and illuminating social injustices. CDS conducts its work for local, regional, national, and international audiences. The Honickman Foundation (THF) is dedicated to the support of projects that promote the arts, education, health, and social change. Embodied in this commitment is a fundamental belief in the power of the “family unit” and in the necessity of a strong community to support it. THF is dedicated to a variety of projects that strengthen and bolster both individuals and families. Though of disparate substance, what each project has in common is its creative potential. At the heart of the mission of The Honickman Foundation is the belief that creativity enriches contemporary society, because the arts are powerful tools for enlightenment, equity, and empowerment, and must be encouraged to effect social change as well as personal growth. To these ends The Honickman Foundation invests its time and resources. banner image: Billboard pole, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1995 (detail). From The Weather and a Place to Live: Photographs of the Suburban West by Steven B. Smith, winner of the second biennial Center for Documentary Studies / Honickman First Book Prize in Photography. top