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2015 Lange-Taylor Prize

Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University   /   Deadline: 05/07/15

$10,000 award from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University supports 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) also receive a solo exhibition and inclusion in an archive at Duke. To learn more, go to documentarystudies.duke.edu/awards.

Location

The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University is located in Durham, North Carolina. The artists applying for the prize may conduct their work anywhere.

Fees

$65

Eligibility

The Lange-Taylor Prize is open to documentary artists of any age and nationality who are involved in extended, ongoing fieldwork projects that rely on and exploit, in intriguing and effective ways, the interplay of words and images in the creation and presentation of their work. Single artists as well as collaborative teams are eligible.

Requirements

Applicants may submit a portfolio of any combination of the below, for a maximum of 20 uploads. The submission guidelines are designed to accommodate a wide variety of projects. Please submit your materials in a form that best represents your project.

Up to 19 images (photographs/graphics + text) in digital format from an ongoing project (jpg/pdf). Please label images with captions, to include title, year, format.

and/or

Up to 15-pages of double-spaced writing (edited oral history, descriptive narrative, poetry) from an ongoing project in pdf format. Please include name, address, telephone number, and email address on the first page.

Note: In the case of a combined pdf of writing and photographs, the document should include no more than 19 images and no more than the equivalent of 15 pages of double-spaced writing.

and/or

Up to 10 minutes total of time-based media (whether audio, narrated slide show, video) (mp3/mp4/mov) from an ongoing project. Please label uploads with title, year, format. SlideRoom can also accept links to YouTube/Vimeo.

Note: Digital materials (CDs or DVDs) and analog formats (VHS, 16mm, etc.) may be accepted by mail if necessary. Please send a request to Alexa Dilworth at alexad@duke.edu before sending.

AND

Applicants must submit:

1-page project description (pdf). Please provide context for the material you are submitting-the nature, duration, and future of the project, where and when the submitted work was made, and your ultimate intentions for the work. How will winning the Lange-Taylor Prize further your work on this project?

- If you are sending in work from a project previously submitted to the Lange-Taylor Prize, please include information about how your project has developed since you last entered, and in what ways the samples have been revised/refined.
- If you are submitting work that has been previously published, please include information about where and when it appeared and how the material as submitted for this competition is different (or not).

Note: Applicants may include URLs where additional related work may be viewed.

1-page statement (pdf) that addresses the use and relationship of words and images in your work. If your project combines audio recordings, text, photographs, and video, for instance, please submit a sample of each and address how these elements "rely on and exploit, in intriguing and effective ways, the interplay of words and images in the creation and presentation" of your work. How is this interplay advantageous in fulfilling the goals of your documentary project?

1-page biography or C.V. for each project partner (pdf)

Awards

The winner(s) receives $10,000, a solo exhibition at the Center for Documentary Studies, and inclusion in the Archive of Documentary Arts at Rubenstein Library, Duke University.

Considerations

Applicants (and partner/s) can submit as many entries (for separate projects) as you wish, however, please note: You will need to register online at http://dukearts.slideroom.com with a different email address for each entry. (All of your other contact information, except the email address, can stay the same.) Multiple entries must be for distinct and separate projects.

Evaluation Criteria

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 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.

The judging is based only on submitted work as well as the project description and statement. Please review your materials to be sure that you've submitted the best representation of your project-including a sample of different types of media, as applicable-and your effective use of words and images.

Contact Information

Alexa Dilworth
Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University
1317 W. Pettigrew Street
Durham, NC 27705

P: 919.660.3662
W: http://documentarystudies.duke.edu
E: alexad@duke.edu