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Youth
Document Durham:
A Five-Year Retrospective, 2000–2004
October 23, 2006–January 7, 2007
Public Reception: November 4, 2–4 p.m
The exhibition Youth Document Durham:
A Five-Year Retrospective, 2000–2004 celebrates the
recently published book by the same name and the work of the young
people who participated in the community-based program at the Center
for Documentary Studies.
Youth Document Durham (YDD) is a summer program that brings together
young people, ages 12–16, from diverse Durham communities
to document local history and the contemporary issues that affect
their lives. Advised by a youth board drawn from previous participants,
YDD recognizes the catalytic role young people often play as leaders
in their families and communities. In the program young people use
photography, oral history, and narrative writing to represent their
experiences, their lives, and the social issues affecting them.
They cross boundaries and draw disparate parts of the community
together, and through their projects, they add their voices to public
arenas in which they are not often heard.
During the school year, the program's Youth Advisory Board meets
to make decisions about the framework and focus of each summer's
program. Topics explored by past participants include crime, teen
violence, food cultures, music, racism, cultural diversity, technology,
and jobs and education. The program is offered during one four-week
session. For four intensive weeks, the students learn skills in
photography using a manual camera, the techniques required to process
film and develop prints, interviewing skills, computer-based audio
editing, and how to write narration reflecting their experiences.
They also make decisions about how they will explore their group's
topic; they choose whom they might want to interview, where and
what they will photograph, and what project or event might reflect
their work so that they can share their ideas, stories, and photographs
with the larger community.
To learn
more about Youth Document Durham
Youth
Document Durham exhibition and book featured on the News and
Observer Web site
Related CDS Publication
Youth
Document Durham: The Book
A Five-Year Retrospective, 2000-2004
Edited by Hong-An Truong
With photographs and essays by Youth Document Durham participants
How
to order Youth Document Durham: The Book
"Young people—in various circumstances and for many reasons—have
often been the subjects of documentary photographs. In Durham, North
Carolina, not unlike other places, youth have also often been the
subject of intense debate among local leaders and politicians, discussions
which include the high school drop-out rate, perceived youth gang
issues and teen violence, the rising teen pregnancy rate, and the
growing numbers of Spanish-language learners. Youth Document Durham
(YDD), a program at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University,
grew out of a simple idea in response to these realities. We wanted
to put cameras and audio recorders in the hands of a local group
of racially and culturally diverse young people so that they could
represent their own lives through words and pictures to each other
and to the community.
"One of the values inherent in teaching documentary work is
found in the learning that comes from doing fieldwork. Youth Document
Durham teaches young documentarians a meaningful and purposeful
way of interacting with the world around them. They begin to see
how they are connected to a larger community, how they are similar
to people they thought vastly different from them, and how their
actions affect the people around them.
"Documentary work is an intensive process that demands thoughtful
engagement. Through this engagement, young people are encouraged
to have an opinion and speak up. Through public events and projects
such as gallery shows and exhibit openings, community presentations,
and publications, these young people share their photographs and
audio pieces with their peers and with adults, encouraging dialogue
about local issues.
"Youth Document Durham provides an opportunity for young people
to tell their part of the community story, and in return, we hope
that they are inspired to effect change in their own lives and in
the world around them."—HONG-AN TRUONG
Photographs of Exhibition Installation
banner image:
Partial view of the Lyndhurst Gallery, one of four exhibition spaces
at CDS. Photograph by Christoper Sims.
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