Sitting in his study, William Carlos Williams once revealed to Robert Coles what he considered to be his greatest problem in writing a documentary about his patients in New Jersey. "When I'm there, sitting with those folks, listening and talking," he said to Coles, "I'm part of that life, and I'm near it in my head, too.... Back here, sitting near this typewriter--its different. I'm a writer. I'm a doctor living in Rutherford who is describing 'a world elsewhere.'" Williams captured the great difficulty in documentary writing--the gulf that separates the reality of the subject from the point of view of the observer . Now, in this thought-provoking volume, the renowned child psychiatrist Robert Coles, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Children in Crisis series, offers a penetrating look into the nature of documentary work. Utilizing the documentaries of writers, photographers, and others, Coles shows how their prose and pictures are influenced by the observers frame of reference: their social and educational background, personal morals, and political beliefs. He discusses literary documentaries: James Agee's searching portrait of Depression-era tenant farmers, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, and George Orwell's passionate description of England's coal-miners, The Road to Wigan Pier. Like many documentarians, Coles argues, Agee and Orwell did not try to be objective, but instead showered unadulterated praise on the "noble" poor and vituperative contempt on the more priviliged classes (including themselves) for "exploiting" these workers. Documentary photographs could be equally revealing about the observer. Coles analyses how famous photographers such as Walker Evans and Dorthea Lange edited and cropped their pictures to produce a desired effect. Even the shield of the camera could not hide the presence of the photographer. Coles also illuminates his points through his personal portraits of William Carlos Williams; Robert Moses, one of the leaders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee during the 1960s; Erik H. Erikson, biographer of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther; and others. Documentary work, Coles concludes, is more a narrative constructed by the observer than a true slice of reality. With the growth in popularity of films such as Ken Burns's The Civil War and the controversial basketball documentary Hoop Dreams, the question of what is "real" in documentary work is more pressing than ever. Through revealing discussions with documentarians and insightful analysis of their work, complemented by dramatic black-and-white photographs from Lange and Evans, Doing Documentary Work will provoke the reader into reconsidering how fine the line is between truth and fiction. It is an invaluable resource for students of the documentary and anyone interested in this important genre.

About the Author
Robert Coles is a child psychiatrist, and the James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard University. An essayist, poet, and noted writer, he is a founding member of the Center of Documentary Studies at Duke University and co-editor of the documentary magazine Double Take.

Reviews
"The complicated, tightrope dance of the ethical documentarian is the subject of Robert Coles' superb Doing Documentary Work. "--The Boston Book Review "Coles ensures that one will never look at documentary work--no matter how well done or well meaning--quite the same way again."--Washington Post Book World "Journalists, social workers, and therapists, as well as producers of print or film documentaries, will find this ruminative volume of special use, reminding them of the questions they should ask themselves before they invade schools, workplaces, and private lives."--Kirkus "Rich with narrative and smart in a warm and accessible way, this is a book for storytellers of every stripe."--Utne Reader "Indispensable for students of the documentary."--Booklist "...passionate ideas and cogent analysis fill the book.--Library Journal "A challenging exploration of documentary writing and photography, focusing on the ways in which researchers can affect, reshape, or misrepresent what they see...Journalists, social workers, and therapists, as well as producers of print or film documentaries, will find this ruminative volume of special use, reminding them of the questions they should ask themselves before they invade schools, workplaces, and private lives."--Kirkus Reviews "The complicated, tightrope dance of the ethical documentarian is the subject of Robert Coles' superb Doing Documentary Work.... What is exciting about this book is that Coles, whose intellectual interest and curiousity are omnivorous, has applied to himself and his own field the scrutiny that intellectuals frequently only apply to some `other,' whether that other be a `field' of scholarship or `natives' nervous about a camera."--David C. Ward, The Boston Book Review "Coles ensures that one will never look at documentary work--no matter how well done or well meaning--quite the same way again."--Jeanne Fox-Alston, Washington Post Book World



Book Information
ISBN 9780195124958
Author Coles
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 249g
Dimensions(mm) 135mm * 202mm * 14mm