Alex Harris photographs and papers, 1970-2019
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Summary
- Creator:
- Harris, Alex, 1949-
- Abstract:
- Alex Harris is a documentary photographer, author, and professor emeritus at the Center for Documentary Studies in Durham, North Carolina. The over 700 black-and-white and color photographs in the collection span his career, and include projects exploring the landscapes and peoples of Alaska, the American South, New Mexico, and Cuba; portraits of older reading volunteers and students in Philadelphia; students on strike at Yale University; counter-culture people at a Rainbow Gathering in Arizona; the artist's son tethered to his game device; elderly people living on their own in North Carolina; the interior of author Reynolds Price's home; and movie production sets in the South. The gelatin silver and inkjet prints range in size from 8x10 inch reference prints to 24x36 inch exhibit prints. Harris's professional papers document his collaborations with other photographers and writers on books and exhibitions, including anthropologist Gertrude Duby Blom, naturalist E.O. Wilson, and South African photographers; they also cover his long career at Duke University, as teacher, author, and co-founder of the Center for Documentary Studies and its publication, DoubleTake. In addition to the paper records, there are many recorded oral histories and interviews. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
- Extent:
- 56 Linear Feet (88 boxes; 2 oversize folders)
- Language:
- Materials in English
- Collection ID:
- RL.10060
Background
- Scope and content:
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The over 700 black-and-white and color photographs in the collection date from Harris's earliest photographic work as a graduate student at Yale University, to his more recent work documenting movie sets in the South. The subjects range widely, and include the landscapes and peoples of Alaska, the American South, New Mexico, and Cuba; portraits of older reading volunteers and students in Philadelphia; students on strike at Yale University; counter-culture people at a Rainbow Gathering in Arizona; the artist's son going about his day, tethered to his gaming device; elderly people living on their own in central North Carolina; views of the art-filled interiors of author Reynolds Price's home; and movie production sets in the South. The gelatin silver and inkjet prints range in size from 8x10 inch reference prints to 24x36 inch exhibit prints.
The remaining series house Harris's papers, which document collaborations with other photographers and writers, including Gertrude Duby Blom and E.O. Wilson, and South Africa photographers; they also document his career at Duke University as a teacher, author, and co-founder of the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) and its serial publication, DoubleTake. The Publicity and Audiovisual Materials Series contains recordings of lectures as well as publicity for exhibits and publications. The Correspondence Series includes not only Harris's exchanges with other photographers, friends, and professionals, but also grant applications, research notes, drafts and proofs, print materials, and some photographs. The DoubleTake files consist mainly of materials generated during the planning stages and early years of the magazine's existence. Materials on Harris's extensive collaborations on other publications, documentary projects, and related exhibitions make up the large Project Files Series, which includes many oral histories and interviews related to his projects, mostly on cassette tapes (use copies must be made for access). The Teaching Materials Series comprises syllabi, student writings and slides, and other materials from classes taught by Harris mainly through the CDS at Duke University. Finally, the Proof Prints Series contains a small number of proof prints related to various projects.
- Biographical / historical:
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Alex Harris (1949- ) is a documentary photographer, author, and professor emeritus at the Center for Documentary Studies in Durham, North Carolina. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he has spent most of his adult life in North Carolina. He has photographed for extended periods in Cuba, the Inuit villages of Alaska, the Hispanic villages of northern New Mexico, and across the American South. At Duke, Harris is a co-founder of the Center for Documentary Photography (1980), The Center for Documentary Studies (1989), DoubleTake magazine (1995), and The Lewis Hine Documentary Fellows Program (2002). His awards include a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Photography, a Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellowship, and a Lyndhurst Prize. Harris's work is represented in major photographic collections, including the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His photographs have been exhibited widely, including two solo exhibitions at the International Center of Photography in New York City. As a photographer and editor, Harris has published many books, among them A World Unsuspected: Portraits of Southern Childhood (North Carolina, 1987), River of Traps: A New Mexico Mountain Life (New Mexico, 1990), with William deBuys, which was a finalist for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize in general non-fiction, The Idea of Cuba (New Mexico, 2007), and Why We Are Here: Mobile and the Spirit of a Southern City (Liveright/Norton, 2012), with Edward O. Wilson. Dream of a House: The Passions and Preoccupations of Reynolds Price (GFT/CDS, 2017) and Where We Find Ourselves: The Photographs of Hugh Mangum, 1897–1922, (University of North Carolina Press, CDS, 2019) both with Margaret Sartor.
- Acquisition information:
- The Alex Harris photographs and papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as gifts and purchases from 1992 to 2023.
- Processing information:
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Processed and described by Tanner Capps, Paula Jeannet, February 2010.
Addition processed and encoded by Michael Shumate, August 2011
Updated to include additions of student work, Paula Jeannet, July 2012
Accession 2012-0116 processed and encoded by Paula Jeannet, November 2012
Accessions 2015-0078 and 2016-0007 processed and encoded by Alice Poffinberger, January 2016
All photographic portfolios were rehoused and described at the item level by Paula Jeannet, Alex Cunningham, and Leslie Hayes, June-December 2016.
2017 addition processed and described by Megan O'Connell.
2019 addition processed and described by Alice Poffinberger and Emile Therrien, October 2019.
2023 addition processed and described by Paula Jeannet and Lou Bennett, March 2023.
Accession(s) described in this collection guide: 1992-0060, 1993-0116, 1993-0312, 2000-0009, 2000-0277, 2001-0104, 2002-0017, 2002-0080, 2003-0032, 2003-0028, 2003-0228, 2003-0261, 2004-0329, 2008-0018, 2008-0118, 2008-0119, 2009-0005, 2009-0170, 2010-0082, 2012-0116, 2015-0078, 2016-0007, 2017-0061, 2019-0092, and 2023-0002.
- Arrangement:
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Photographs are organized in project series: The Last and First Eskimos; Southern Color; North Carolina; The Idea of Cuba; Game Boy; May Day, 1970: Yale on Strike; Red White Blue and God Bless You: A Portrait of New Mexico; New Mexico in Black and White; River of Traps (New Mexico); Rainbow Gathering; Philadelphia Experience Corps; Old and On Their Own; Dream of a House: The Passions and Preoccupations of Reynolds Price; and Our Strange New Land: Narrative Sets in the American South. Harris's professional papers are arranged in the following series: Publicity and Audiovisual Materials; Correspondence; Doubletake Files; Project Files; Teaching Materials; and Proof Prints.
- Physical facet:
- 703 photographic prints; approximately 16,062 other items
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.
- Subjects:
- Alaska Natives -- Photographs
Authors, American -- Homes and haunts
City and town life -- Alabama
City and town life -- Cuba
Computer games -- Social aspects
Documentary Photography -- Southern States
Documentary Photography -- United States
Duke University -- Faculty
Indigenous peoples -- Portraits
Mexican Americans -- New Mexico -- Portraits
Motion pictures -- Production and direction -- Southern States -- Photographs
Older people -- North Carolina -- Photographs
Photographers -- United States -- Correspondence
Photography -- Study and teaching
Student protesters -- Photographs
Student strikes -- Photographs
Technology and children -- Photographs
Urban schools -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Photographs - Format:
- Black-and-white photographs
Color photographs
Digital prints
DVDs
Gelatin silver prints
Inkjet prints
Oral history interviews
Sound recordings
Videocassettes - Names:
- Duke University. Center for Documentary Studies. DoubleTake
Duke University. Center for Documentary Studies
Archive of Documentary Arts (Duke University)
Rainbow Gathering -- Photographs
Harris, Alex, 1949-
Blom, Gertrude Duby -- Interviews
Price, Reynolds, 1933-2011 -- Homes and haunts - Places:
- Alaska -- Photographs
Arizona -- Photographs
Cuba -- Photographs
Havana (Cuba) -- Photographs
Mobile (Ala.) -- Photographs
New Mexico -- Photographs
Southern States -- Photographs
Contents
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- Restrictions:
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Access note. Some materials in this collection are fragile and may require extra assistance from staff. Very large prints are closed to general use; smaller viewing prints are available and should be used whenever possible. Contact Research Services with questions.
Access note. Some materials in this collection are fragile audiovisual formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.
- Terms of access:
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http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Materials in this collection are made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please consult https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Alex Harris photographs and papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
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- https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1kg8d