Doing Documentary Work

by Robert Coles

Sitting in his study, William Carlos Williams once revealed to Robert Coles what he considered to be his greatest problem in writing a documentary about his patients in New Jersey. "When I'm there , sitting with those folks, listening and talking," he said to Coles, "I'm part of that life, and I'm near it in my head, too.... Back here , sitting near this typewriter--its different. I'm a writer. I'm a doctor living in Rutherford who is describing 'a world elsewhere.'" Williams captured the great difficulty in documentary writing--the gulf that separates the reality of the subject from the point of view of the observer .
Now, in this thought-provoking volume, the renowned child psychiatrist Robert Coles, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Children in Crisis series, offers a penetrating look into the nature of documentary work. Utilizing the documentaries of writers, photographers, and others, Coles shows how their prose and pictures are influenced by the observer's frame of reference: their social and educational background, personal morals, and political beliefs. He discusses literary documentaries: James Agee's searching portrait of Depression-era tenant farmers, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men , and George Orwell's passionate description of England's coal-miners, The Road to Wigan Pier . Like many documentarians, Coles argues, Agee and Orwell did not try to be objective, but instead showered unadulterated praise on the "noble" poor and vituperative contempt on the more privileged classes (including themselves) for "exploiting" these workers. Documentary photographs could be equally revealing about
the observer. Coles analyzes how famous photographers such as Walker Evans and Dorthea Lange edited and cropped their pictures to produce a desired effect. Even the shield of the camera could not hide the presence of the photographer. Coles also illuminates his points through his personal portraits of William Carlos Williams; Robert Moses, one of the leaders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee during the 1960s; Erik H. Erikson, biographer of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther; and others. Documentary work, Coles concludes, is more a narrative constructed by the observer than a true slice of reality.
With the growth in popularity of films such as Ken Burns's The Civil War and the controversial basketball documentary Hoop Dreams , the question of what is "real" in documentary work is more pressing than ever. Through revealing discussions with documentarians and insightful analysis of their work, complemented by dramatic black-and-white photographs from Lange and Evans, Doing Documentary Work will provoke the reader into reconsidering how fine the line is between truth and fiction. It is an invaluable resource for students of the documentary and anyone interested in this important genre.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Film, Folklore

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Child psychiatrist, author, Harvard professor.

Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at the Harvard Medical School, a research psychiatrist for the Harvard University Health Services, and the James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard College.

Reviews

[Bob Tankersley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good thoughts on the psychology of documentary work, but I hoped for more practicalities. I found it ironic when the author talked about other work that was long-winded and bloated because this book was much the same way. Glad I read it, but glad I'm done.

[Jessy]

Unfinished (read for a documentary photography class Spring 2018). Interesting thoughts about the nature of documentary photography/journalism - surely biased, but always striving to portray a subject honestly and fully. I particularly liked his acknowledgement that we're often documenting groups that are less privileged - and what our responsibility is here, as witnesses to their lives.

[Alexandre Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interresting thoughts but quite boring to read

[Heather G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alternately wonderfully thought-provoking and pedantic. Yet Coles manages to create a indispensable reference for anyone doing documentary work. It's partly a survey of documentarians (with particular emphasis on the Work Progress Administration photographers from the depression era and William Carlos Williams, the physician poet). Coles uses these examples to illustrate aspects of the documentary process. He also shares his own work and process and underscores the reflective/dialogical nature of the work. All in all, a worthwhile read that reminds us to take great care in re-presenting the people we study.

[TaraShea Nesbit]

An adequate starting place for someone beginning to do documentary work, though he speaks specifically to real-time documentations, particularly of people, rather than more broadly discussing working with documents or non-present time. His background as a psychologist and professor in the Duke Documentary Studies program offers a unique perspective to the field and I tried to translate his ethical discussions for what it might mean for those doing historical research. Many still apply to both. The last chapter lists many documentary books worth reading.

[Reacher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Windy, bloated, overindulgent, incohesive academic blather as its worst. The irony is that Coles claims to be a documentarian, yet he lacks the ability to articulate even the simplest ideas in a clear, straightforward manner, leaving his audience uninformed. Pure torture this one.

[gavin :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Coles knows what he’s talking about and he has many brilliant thoughts about the subject, but dear god it’s just surrounded in so much self-indulgent pseudo-intellectual jargon that it isn’t worth the read at all

[Ricardo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful

[Travis Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend reading the first three chapters. The fourth chapter gets long and wordy...