Duke Documentary Students Photograph Hillsborough

Students from Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies have been coming to Hillsborough for the past eight years to photograph its people and places.

Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens met with a group of students in January.

“Fifteen students came in, and we were sitting in our visitors’ center. And I said, ‘How many people were raised in this area.’ And there were one or two raised in the area, living in Durham now,” said Stevens in an interview with WCHL. “But a good third of the class had never been to Hillsborough before. . . So when you see yourself through fresh eyes – somebody’s taking the time, a whole semester, to get visuals but also learn the story . . . it’s really joyful to see.”

Mayor Stevens shared his favorite photo stories from this class called Small Town, USA, taught by Susie Post-Rust.

“I think one of the most moving times was in the very first year,” said Stevens. “They picked a young woman, a teenager who is being homeschooled . . . by her family who is very involved in one of the local churches.”

Here’s an excerpt from Jessica Silver’s narrated slide show about the Christian family:

“Her father does not allow his daughters to date. They must court. After six months, a couple can hold hands. And they, if allowed by the parents, can kiss after a year. Amanda is currently courting a boy from church who took her to his senior prom.”

Stevens also enjoyed a story from that same year featuring a family from a different religious tradition. Kristyn Schomp’s photos show people chanting at Hillsborough’s Hare Krishna temple, kids doing homework on the couch seated beside a blue-eyed baby doll, and kids climbing into their bunk bed while mom starts the Krishna bedtime story on a cassette tape player.

You can find photos from past years on the website, smalltown-usa.com. The current batch of photo stories are set to be finished in April.

Duke Documentary Students Photograph Hillsborough

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