Statement of Professor Alex Harris, Director of LHFP

I am grateful for the sustained partnership with JJCF, not only for the financial support, but also for the heartfelt sincerity, encouragement, and friendship our Fellows receive from the Foundation. The opportunity for these young adults to create a long term documentary project for NGOs in the United States or abroad  deepens their belief that one individual can make a difference. It is my pleasure to introduce this year’s four LHFP/JJCF Fellows. Two of our fellows, Emma Raynes and Amara Hark Weber, will be working internationally, in Brazil and Greece, and two, Libby Conn and Annie Dlugokecki, will be working domestically, in Boston, MA.

Libby Conn, a 2004 Duke graduate, spent her undergraduate years studying photography, video, writing, and audio at the Center for Documentary Studies.  While at CDS, Libby collaborated with many individuals to explore such topics as healthcare for the disabled homeless, the death penalty’s impact on family, local reactions to the invasion of Iraq, young mothers transitioning from welfare to work, evolving traditions in African-American quilting, and voting practices in rural North Carolina. In her first film, Stepdaddy, she explored the relationship between a mother and her ten-year-old daughter after the mother decides to marry a man on death row.  Libby says, of this film, “I’m not sure exactly what story I was looking to tell. As time passed, though, that became less and less important because in the months I spent with Betsy and Kitt, I was surprised to find that the ways in which I identified with them far outnumbered the ways in which I felt very different from them. I ended up, I think, with a film about people.  About a mother.  And a daughter.  And everything that relationship means.  About sticking together, when it would be so easy to fall apart.  And it was by spending time with them that I began to find a theme that would guide many of my other projects: How do people, when faced with obstacles, find strength?  And why does this matter?”  

 Libby will travel to Dorchester, MA this fall to work with Project Hope. Project Hope works in partnership with families so they can move up and out of poverty. Their core community consists of low income, single parent families who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. “ I am most interested in finding and helping to tell stories that illuminate not only the worst of what our communities have to offer, but also the ways in which people work together to bring about positive change.” 

Annie Dlugokecki, a 2006 Duke graduate, is a still photographer with experience in both fine art and documentary photography. Her personal connection with photography, as a means to express ideas and explore personal events, has made her eager to share this craft with other people. Annie was a photography instructor at a local elementary school with the Literacy Through Photography program. Through her work at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, Annie has pursued a variety of photography projects. Most recently, Annie completed a collaborative project with a woman named Regina who had recently been released from the Raleigh Correctional Center for Women. Annie took photographs and printed them using the cyanotype process. Regina then responded to the images by writing on them. Together Annie and Regina edited this collection of prints.   

Annie will be working with Julie’s Family Learning Center in South Boston, MA this fall. Julie’s seeks to break the cycle of poverty among low income, at-risk families by providing services that enable mothers and their children to become healthy, responsible successful at life, and economically self-sufficient members of their communities. Some of its services include adult basic education, family literacy, and infant/toddler child development programs.  Annie, upon learning of JJCF’s support, said, “I am elated by the opportunity to do the work I love to do the most, and that would not be possible without JJCF’s generous help.”

Amara Hark-Weber, a 2005 graduate of Bard College in History and African Studies, is  currently enrolled in the Documentary Studies Certificate Program. Immediately prior to and during her time at Bard, she undertook several study abroad programs, including an intensive independent study of textiles in Ghana, a language study in France, language and textile study in Japan, and a human rights program in Cape Town, South Africa. Amara is passionate about the bridging of cultural gaps and misunderstandings, and feels strongly that the best way to bridge cultural rifts is to hear individual stories and voices. Amara is currently living in Kumasi, Ghana, where she is working on a series of audio postcards, as well as portraits of female traders in the Kejitia Market.

For her Hine fellowship, Amara will travel to Greece to work with Schedia, an organization dedicated to promoting respect for diversity through art. Using theater, music, painting and other media, Schedia works with minority youth and their families to bridge and celebrate differences. The communities served include Turkish-speaking Muslim children, families from the ex-Soviet Union and Albania, as well as the Roma. Amara, having spent many years traveling and studying in many areas of the world, in which she encountered many ideas, people, and ways of being, said experiences like these “affirm my belief that the world is a beautiful, awe-inspiring place.”

Emma Raynes, a 2004 graduate of Bowdoin College, majored in Art History and pursued additional interests in Photography and Sociology.  In 2005, Emma received her certificate from the Center for Documentary Studies.  1n 2006, she completed a program in General Photographic Studies at the International Center of Photography in New York City.  Emma is a documentary artist who uses photography, audio, video, book arts, and installation.  Emma collaborates with the subjects of her documentary work, encouraging individuals and communities to be participants in her documentary process.  Emma has worked on projects in Northern Ireland, China, Nepal, South India, North Carolina, and New York.

This fall, she will work in Aracuai, Brazil with Centro Popular de Cultura e Desenvolvimento (CPCD). This program aims to increase the self esteem of minority and at-risk children. Key to the success of CPCD’s programs is involving children from the beginning in the design, monitoring and evaluation of their programs.  Primarily during after school hours, CPCD’s programs use lessons in crafts, sports, practical life skills and other areas to improve participants’ self esteem. Having worked with youth in India, Nepal and New York, Emma is seasoned, comfortable and excited to continue working with this audience. About this placement, she says, “I want my work to reach diverse audiences and be a vehicle for social change.  I am very excited about the challenges and the rewarding experiences that lay before me.”