Donald Antrim

Doug DuBois

Doug DuBois began photographing his family in 1984, prior to his fathers nearfatal fall from a commuter train and his mothers subsequent breakdown and hospitalizations. While these events set a narrative backdrop to his work, the emotional freight is carried by the details as described by the artist: the pallor of my mothers skin, the glare of my fathers gaze, and the tactile communion between my sister and nephew constitute a complex and resonant picture of family ties. More than twenty-five years later, DuBoiss project has developed in remarkable ways. Doug Dubois: All the Days and Nights resonates with emotional immediacy, offering a potent examination of family relations, and what it means to subject personal relationships to the unblinking eye of the camera. Each photograph is rich with color, nuanced gestures and glances enveloping the viewer in a multivalent, emotionally tense world.

--All the Days and Nights

Patrick Lynch

Doug DuBois was first introduced to a group of teenagers from the Russell Heights housing estate while he was an artist-in-residence at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh, on the southwest coast of Ireland. He was fascinated by the insular neighborhood, in which "everyone seems to be someone's cousin, former girlfriend, or spouse." Little can happen there that isn't seen, discussed, distorted beyond all reason, and fiercely defended against any disapprobation from the outside. DuBois gained entry when Kevin and Eirn (two participants of a workshop he taught) took him to a local hangout spot, opening his eyes to a world of not-quite-adults struggling -- publicly and privately -- through the last days of their childhood. Over the course of five years, DuBois returned to Russell Heights. People came and left, relationships formed and dissolved, and babies were born. Combining portraits, spontaneous encounters, and collaborative performances, the images in My Last Day at Seventeen exist in a delicate balance between documentary and fiction. A powerful follow-up to DuBois' acclaimed first book, All the Days and Nights, this volume provides an incisive examination ofthe uncertainties of growing up in Ireland today, while highlighting the unique relationship sustained between artist and subject. Exhibition: Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Ireland (10.2015).

Doug DuBois

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