Work with Children

I’ve completed a number of multimedia pieces for local schools, organizations and non-profits over the years, but I especially enjoy working with children. As Chinese philosopher Mencius said, “The great man is he who does not lose his child’s-heart.”

Children, when asked those big, meaty, essential questions, tell it to you straight. The images above are from a series I did with a group of children, when they were 6, and then again five years later. The question: “If you had one wish for the world, your family or yourself, what would it be?” I wanted to explore how our dreams change over time.

How Motherhood Changes Us

In 2000, I had a successful career as a director in an internet design firm in a wonderful city; I had just about finished putting my husband through medical school and residency; and I had my first child, a healthy boy. By all appearances, I had a charmed life. Yet soon after my son’s birth, …

Documenting Medicine

In 2010, Pediatrician and Photographer John Moses and I launched a documentary mentorship for Duke physician residents nearing the end of their training. Residents are given the skills, equipment, mentoring and time to explore a medical issue, question or story using documentary methods. We offer mentoring in film, audio, photography, web and writing. At the conclusion of the mentorship, residents share their work with colleagues and medical students.

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Teaching

In my teaching, we use documentary as a means for students to more completely understand the full complexity of a current social and policy issue. In 2010, the class focused on homelessness. Each student spent the entire semester building a relationship with someone who was currently or previously homeless. It is one thing to read statistics about the causes of homelessness; it is entirely another to gain the trust of and connect with a person who has lived those statistics.

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