Beyond Documentary is a photographic documentary project that provides teenagers with the skills to record their own photographic documentary stories using photography, sound and text recorded with technology that exists within the community including mobile phones, digital cameras and the internet.
These photographs are shown on this blog site, on LCD screens in the Westfield shopping Centre Manukau, and as Street posters, during the Manukau Festival of Arts.
This is moving out day, this photo I made of my room. I took this because I didn't want to leave my space to go live in my sisters house. My Dad doesn't live with us anymore. Now I share a room with my Mum and we have 9 people living in our house. Image by Annie.
Nikki and I hang out we like making ideas with our names. Serena scanned this page of A4 from my book. In my book I have a whole lota writing. This doodle is one Nikki and I did, I made our names in blue and red ink, then a few days later Nikki added to it.
Annie lives across the road from this set of shops. She has picked up a bag of carrots for her mum for dinner. This road is very busy and runs between the southern and western motorways.
The current social identity of ‘South Auckland’, (a term used to describe the district south of Auckland) is largely governed by media, often unfairly. In particular the youth of South Auckland are featured frequently in the local and national news. In the summer of 2008 Serena Stevenson met two teenagers in Manurewa who were not into gangs, stealing, or making trouble. They were into their friendships, hanging out in their garage, and the takeaway bar, or spending time with family. Beyond Documentary’s key protagonist’s Nikki (left) and Annie (right) are two normal teenagers from Manurewa, South Auckland. This work is a celebration of the normality of their lives, spanning over a 12-month period portrayed in this collaborative multimedia exhibition.
BEYOND DOCUMENTARY'S OBJECTIVE IS TO USE MULTIMEDIA AND COLLABORATION WITH SUBJECTS IN THE CREATION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY STORY TELLING. ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ARE BY SERENA STEVENSON, ANNIE LATU, AND NIKKI SHEPARD. The project outcome is a collaborative photographic exhibition, using sound and text made with technology that exists with the community, for example mobile phones, digital cameras, and Internet. This work is made in collaboration with Nikki and Annie, two teenagers from Manukau City South Auckland, spanning over 12 months. The images are exhibited within their own environment. To achieve this Beyond Documentary is exhibited on LCD screens throughout the local shopping mall Manukau Westfield, online at this Blog site, and printed on street posters displayed around the city, all part of the Manukau Festival of Arts 9th – 15th November 2009.
Credits:
Photographers – Serena Stevenson, Annie Latu, and Nikki Shepard.
Project designer – Serena Stevenson.
Affter Effects operator – Adam Sheffield BDES, MDES.
Project supervisor – Marcus Williams MFA.
