A prize of $10,000 is given annually by the
Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University to support documentary artists, working alone or in teams, who are involved in extended,
on-going fieldwork projects that rely on and exploit the interplay of words and images.
The winner's work will also be published in the
Center for Documentary Studies online magazine and placed in the Archive of Documentary
Arts at the Rubenstein Library at Duke University.
Competitive applicants to this prize have a point of view derived from an in-depth understanding of place, history, and the current situation, in concert with a personal relationship to the proposed work. Ultimately, their commitment is to use documentary expression to motivate the thinking and reflection of others.
A panel of writers, editors, and documentary artists will judge. Using the online submission system, submit up to 19 images, 15 pages of double-spaced writing, and/or 10 minutes of time-based media.
Applicants must also submit a one-page project description, and a curriculum vitae with a
$70 entry fee by May 15.
All entries should have one thing in common: evidence that they were created with reliance on documentary methods—research and interviews—and immersive, long-term fieldwork. We are interested in work that directs its gaze outward, that curiously engages with the world, and that is, as former CDS director Tom Rankin describes, “derived from an in-depth
understanding of place, history, and the current situation, in concert with a personal relationship to the proposed work."
The Lange-Taylor Prize is intended for the advancement of an ongoing fieldwork project that fully exploits, in the tradition of Dorothea Lange and Paul Taylor’s important work, the relationship of words and images in the powerful,
persuasive representation of a subject. The focus is on the strength, breadth, and nuance of the work as an extended narrative and meditation.
