| |
Steve
Davis, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14, 2000, Archival
Ink Jet Print, 40" x 50"
|
James
Harris Gallery is pleased to present Steve Davis' epic series, Captured
Youth. For the past 10 years, Davis’ work has investigated and
oftentimes critiqued the way contemporary culture deals with people
who reside at the margins, the so-called underbelly of our social
classes. From people with mental and physical disabilities to incarcerated
teens and senior citizens, Davis records the reality of lives we seldom
see and tend to neglect.
In
stark contrast to the posed scenes that are fashionable in photography
today, Davis’ projects are more akin to straightforward documentary
image making. The palpable relationships the photographer has developed
with his subjects – some of the series span more than 10 years
– gives the work a rare and poignant honesty.
In
the series on view at the gallery, Davis has photographed incarcerated
teens in Washington State correctional facilities. Continually struck
by the simultaneous vacuity of these institutions and the intensity
and passion found in the faces of its young residents, Davis records
both the teenagers and the stark architectural spaces that frame
these young people’s lives. In their portraits, we read sorrow,
pain, and sometimes even regret across these teenagers faces. Just
as often pride, arrogance and anger come across. In contrast to
these forlorn but sometimes hope-filled faces, the images of the
prison architecture have little in terms of sanguinity; inhumane
living environments and desolate conditions expose the reality of
the situation. Together as a series Captured Youth thus forces us
to consider some of the complicated social issues asking us how
and why do our youth end up living, laughing, and suffering in exile.
We
encourage anyone interested in further resources regarding youth
justice to visit the Center
for Children and Youth Justice website. Under the
leadership of Justice Bobbe J. Bridge, the Center is a non-profit
organization dedicated to helping reform the juvenile justice and
child welfare systems in Washington state.
Steve
Davis is the Coordinator of Photography and faculty member at The
Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. His work has appeared in
the New York Times Magazine, and is in the collections of the George
Eastman House, the Tacoma Art Museum and the Musee de la Photographie
in Belgium. He is also a recent recipient of an Artist Trust Grant.
 |
 |
 |
|
| Myke,
Maple Lane, 1997
Archival Ink Jet Print
30" x 24"
Edition of 1/4 |
Cell,
Remann Hall, 2002
Archival Ink Jet Print
30” x 40”
Edition of 1/4 |
Mask,
Remann Hall, 2002
Archival Ink Jet Print
24” x 30”
Edition 2/4 |
Cell
12, Green Hill, 2000
Archival Ink Jet Print
40” x 50”
Edition 1/4 |
| |
|
 |
.jpg) |
10,
11, 12, 13 & 14, Intensive Management Unit, Green Hill,
2000
Archival Ink Jet Print
40" x 50"
Edition 4/4 |
Chris
and Jacob, Maple Lane, 1997
Archival Ink Jet Print
40" x 50”
Edition 1/4 |
Stacey,
Maple Lane, 1997
Archival Ink Jet Print
50” x 40”
Edition 1/4 |
Cell,
Intensive Management Unit, Green Hill, 2000
Archival Ink Jet Print
50" x 40"
Edition of 1/4 |
|
|
|
.jpg)
