"The Past is a Distant Colony," video still
panel discussion “a measure of remorse”
February 18, 6–8 p.m.
Center for Documentary Studies Auditorium
Duke professors Fred Moten and Nayoung Aimee Kwon with video artist Hong-An Truong, in conjunction with a video installation by Truong, The Past Is a Distant Colony, on display at the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University.
Children playing with ballons donated by the Catholic Church for the Pope's visit, Havana. Photograph by Ernesto Bazan.
artist talk with photographer ernesto bazan
February 17, 5 p.m.
Center for Documentary Studies Auditorium
Internationally renowned photographer Ernesto Bazan will talk about his extensive work photographing in Cuba over the past fourteen years and about developing his recent book BazanCuba, which won the prestigious Best Photo Book of the Year Award at the 2009 New York Photo Festival. In 2008, Bazan, who has published four previous books with independent publishers, created a new publishing house, BazanPhotos.
Ernesto Bazan’s residency at Duke University is presented by the Center for Documentary Studies in association with the Cuban American Student Association, with support from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation, the Program in Latino/a Studies in the Global South, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Duke Student Government’s Student Organization Finance Committee.
reciprocity: cedric chatterley’s handmade cameras
On View at CDS through May 21, 2010
Cedric Chatterley makes photographs using film and he still prints in the darkroom. A few years ago, he started making cameras. The first cameras Chatterley built were made for him alone, an exercise in the imaginative and practical use of found objects and cast-off materials. He then became inspired to collaborate with friends and fellow artists—not only in creating images but also in constructing the instruments used to make them.
"Bazan Cuba," published in 2008.
finding your voice through photography: a workshop with ernesto bazan
Thursday, February 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (5 hours credit toward Certificate in Documentary Arts)
Center for Documentary Studies, Room 001
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Course Fee: FREE
(Application required – Qualifies for 5 hours credit toward the Certificate in Documentary Arts)
jazz loft project exhibition
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center
On view through May 22, 2010
The exhibition, organized by the Center for Documentary Studies as part of a multiyear project, features never-before-displayed vintage black-and-white prints and rarely heard audio recordings by photographer W. Eugene Smith, who spent eight years documenting the jazz musicians, artists, and underground characters who inhabited the scene at 821 Sixth Avenue in New York City from 1957 to 1965. In the loft, Smith exposed more than 1,400 rolls of film, making roughly 40,000 pictures, the largest body of work in his career. He also wired the building like a recording studio and made 4,000 hours of tapes, capturing more than 300 musicians.
continuing education information session with april walton
Monday, February 8, 6–8 p.m.
Center for Documentary Studies
Prospective and current students welcome! Come and ask questions about courses at CDS, meet instructors, and learn about the Certificate in Documentary Arts. Please register on-line for this free session at www.cdscourses.org. For additional information, contact Continuing Education at the Center for Documentary Studies: 919-660-3663 or cdscourses@duke.edu.
read below for newly-announced cds workshops in photography, radio, and video
Mike Wiley at a reading at CDS in May 2007. Photographs by Christopher Sims.
the documentary theater project | mike wiley
Students in this class will delve into various aspects of sharing stories through documentary theater. This course explores the way humans narrate, document and illuminate their lives through storytelling, individual and dramatic interpretation. After grounding themselves in the history and methodology of this approach to storytelling and narrative strategy, students will research, write and perform an informal staged reading for a Duke community audience of invited guests. The performance component is a culmination of the class’s fieldwork, archival research, and shared experiences.
Mondays, February 15–April 5 (16 hours) • 6:30–9 p.m.
Course fee: $100.00 • Center for Documentary Studies, Bridges 104
Enroll in “The Documentary Theater Project” now via the CDS Continuing Education registration website
Mike Wiley is the Lehman Brady Visiting Joint Chair Professor in Documentary Studies and American Studies at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for spring and fall 2010. Formerly of Theatre IV and Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, Mike Wiley has more than twelve years of credits in theater for young audiences, plus film, television, and regional theater. An Upward Bound alum and Trio Achiever Award recipient, he is an M.F.A. graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A gifted playwright and actor, Wiley’s overriding goal is expanding cultural awareness for audiences of all ages through dynamic portrayals based on pivotal moments in African American history and, in doing so, helping to unveil a richer picture of the total American experience. Sought by performing arts centers large and small and by educators from middle schools to universities, Wiley’s work will also be featured in the 2009 National Black Theatre Festival. He has been jury-selected for professional industry showcases by both the Midwest Arts Federation and Southern Arts Federation. His expanding rich repertoire of original productions each display his acclaimed ability for bringing to life multiple intertwined characters, with Wiley often portraying more than two dozen persons in a single “one-man” drama. His work includes Blood Done Sign My Name; Life Is So Good; Tired Souls: The Montgomery Bus Boycott; Dar He: The Story of Emmett Till; Jackie Robinson: A Game Apart; Brown v. Board of Education: Over Fifty Years Later; and One Noble Journey: A Box Marked Freedom.
In 2007, I was in an accident. It was a life-changing experience. I felt like life flashed before my eyes. I survived, but it made me stop and think what I want out of life. It made me look at the whole picture of my life: all the things I’ve been through, all the things I’ve seen, and all my experiences. It made me evaluate what I need to improve on. I needed something more —- something more out of myself. Here, I can see the steps, the slow steps. It’s a start. But I can see myself doing something more now. --Benjamin Rosado, age 28
something more out of life
By Gretchen Ferber (Lewis Hine Documentary Fellow, 2008–2009)
See all the photographs from Gretchen Ferber’s project on the Hine Documentary Fellows’ website.
exhibition:
Something More Out of Life: Photographs by Gretchen Ferber
Rubenstein Hall
Sanford School of Public Policy
West Campus, Duke University
February 1–TBD, 2010
Exhibition Reception
February 18, 2008, 5:30 p.m.
With a presentation, viewing and remarks by photographer Gretchen Ferber, Rebecca Shaffer of the Durham Literacy Center, and professor Alex Harris, creative director for the Lewis Hine Documentary Fellows Program
Photographing in the Key of C from Center for Documentary Studies on Vimeo.
photographing in the key of c
cedric chatterley talks about and demonstrates his amazing handmade large format cameras
See the related exhibitions at CDS and come to the opening reception and artist talk:
Olive Branch: Twenty-five Years in the Life of Mark Fisher and Cedric Chatterley and Reciprocity: Cedric Chatterley’s Handmade Cameras
January 28–May 21, 2010
Kreps and Lyndhurst Galleries, CDS
reception and artist’s talk:
January 28, 2010
6–9 p.m.
talk at 7 p.m.
brother towns / pueblos hermanos
Directed by Charles D. Thompson Jr. and Michael Davey
Associate Director: Margaret Morales
A Project of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
The documentary film Brother Towns / Pueblos Hermanos is a story of two towns linked by immigration, family, and work: Jacaltenango, a highland Maya town in Guatemala; and Jupiter, a coastal resort town where many Jacaltecos have settled in Florida.
Brother Towns chronicles a story of how and why people migrate across borders, how people make and remake their communities when they travel thousands of miles from home, and how people maintain families despite their travel. Because we are all immigrants, this is a universal human story, and a quintessential American one.
Brother Towns is also a story of local and international controversy. News of undocumented immigrants is familiar in nearly every community across the U.S., and citizens must choose how they respond. The film includes voices of those opposed to undocumented immigrants as well as advocates helping migrants who seek work and hope, whether documented or not.