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EVERY PHOTO TELLS A STORY
The Documentary Project at the Career Center

April 2010

story by Martin Tucker

Five years ago I stood up before 70 student photographers at the Career Center in Winston-Salem and told them to go out and find a story. Not just any story - I didn’t want to see stories on skateboarding, pets, flowers, cars or boyfriends/girlfriends (I know how much you love them but they just don’t make good stories). I gave them examples of stories I’d shot as a photojournalist. A horse therapy group in Pacific Palisades who worked with children with disabilities…a day in the life at a firehouse in Malibu…aspiring dancers in the Preparatory Program at UNCSA. We discussed photojournalistic ethics and I showed them a slide show of award-winning photographs. I charged them to come back tomorrow with three ideas. I wanted a pitch. Convince me that this has merit, that you can schedule it and that you have the access to pull it off. Do you feel passionate about the subject? Why do you want others to know about it? You’ll have to put a three-picture story together with you photos. Shoot wide shots, medium shots and close-ups. Shoot a lot. I set deadlines. I expected a one-page synopsis of their results – successes and failures. My parental photo editor side kicked in. “Don’t let me down. Use your contacts. Plan ahead. If you have problems, come to me. Do not procrastinate (I would repeat that many times).”

That first year I was surprised at the number of stories about autism. Touching looks at siblings, friends and neighbors. Private moments about a private issue we knew little about. I saw my first youth pastor story. And the first of many stories about animals and their rescue and care. Students who had initially said they had boring lives and couldn’t think of a story realized that they had been living with a family member with a fantastic story. Girls went to work with their dads and told very touching stories about subjects they had taken for granted. One girl drove to another city to shoot a story on her dad who built NASCAR engines. Boys began to see their brothers and sisters as people who had interesting lives. Grandparents all of a sudden became a wealth of accessible photo ops.

As the story ideas continued to come in a pattern began to evolve. The teen’s compassion began to show. Veterinary clinics and doctors were popular. Every year has had at least one story on the Humane Society and the Animal Shelter (I can still see those wet noses through the bars). Story titles range from Pick Me! to My Mom Saves Animals. One touching story centered on a puppy rescued from a dumpster. Over the years the story that has popped up the most is Diabetes. Autism is a close second with heart disease a steady third. If a student chose a story about someone with a health issue the story was to be shot with the intent of showing the person’s courage and determination in addition to their illness. One girl went with her mother to a group therapy session where she stood and spoke about her addiction to prescription drugs. And another student met a high school friend at a hospital and photographed him as he sat with his parents and waited for his chemotherapy treatment. A local television news anchor was photographed preparing to go on air. Teen texting has been covered as well as teen pregnancies (every year). One student photographed her dad – an assistant Wake Forest basketball coach. And there was a moving story of a mother and sight-impaired son reading at the Children’s Center. Despite the fact that the students were instructed to tell the story of someone else one photographer convinced me that he could tell a story about himself. He delivered pizzas after school and came back with fascinating photos shot using his car’s mirrors and his camera’s self-timer.

This year I’ve added an extra component to the assignment for the Photo II’s. In their second year in photography, they were instructed to tape record interviews with their subjects. Those interviews were then edited in with their photographs to make a multi-media movie. The power and intensity of their stories has surprised everyone – including me. Watching and listening to a grandmother, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, tell of not being able to account for thirty-minute periods in her day and her surprise at a doctor telling her that the problem isn’t an inner ear infection is stunning. Watching a neonatal nurse practitioner work her shift and hear her discuss caring for tiny premature infants and the possibility that they may not survive is a personal story that we rarely ever have the opportunity to see – and hear. And listening to a teenage girl discuss her outward appearance with tattoos and piercings and her decision to be “herself” while at the same time sharing her future college and career plans is unforgettable.

So, who has benefited from all these years of photographs and stories? The fundamental purpose of photojournalism is to shed light on a subject and to do so honestly and creatively. In the beginning, the caption card under each photograph only had the student’s name and the title. Feedback from viewers said they wanted to know more. So the caption cards have grown into a quote from the photographer about their story and the people involved. To watch visitors go through the student’s exhibits in the Sawtooth building and Downtown Arts District Gallery and stand and study the photographs has surely shed light on hundreds of topics. I’m pleasantly surprised that I have learned about subjects I thought I was already familiar with. I’ve also learned how teens think, what their opinions are and how they see our world. I’ve learned that regardless of the changing technology – 5 years ago all the students shot black and white film, this year 85% shot digitally – that storytelling remains the same. This project has given these student photographers a voice. They’ve gained access into places, learned about subjects and connected with people that they might not have otherwise. And most importantly they’ve discovered that through photography and technology they can bring us all a little closer together.

The Documentary Project will open on April 8th with a reception from 5:00 to 8:00pm in the lobby of the Nissen Apartment Building, 310 West Fourth Street, Winston-Salem. The show will be on display through May 8th. Contact Martin Tucker 336-210-6110 for more information.

(coursesy of Martin Tucker)