Doug Dubois: Kevin's 18th Birthday Party, Ireland 2009

Kevin and Erin were born one day apart. On my last day in Ireland, Kevin’s family threw a party to celebrate their eighteenth birthdays. Erin wore her new dress, got drunk and fell asleep. Kevin, whose skinny frame belies his capacity for drink, lasted well into the night, long after I left the party to pack for my flight home. —D.D.

Doug Dubois came to RIT this past Wednesday night to give a few portfolio reviews and a lecture. His book, All the Days and Nights, published in 2009 by Aperture, is quite compelling. After spending over 20 years photographing his family, what does a photographer, such as Doug, do next. He showed work from two projects that are in their infancy which consisted of photographs of Somali immigrants arriving in Syracuse and photographs of teenagers in Ireland.

This past summer, Doug spent four weeks in Ireland on a residence. After spending two weeks not being able to photograph what he wanted, he was brought to a local hangout where teenagers would hang out and drink. From there, he began photographing the youth in a small town where he was staying. His trip culminated with a birthday party where Erin said, “this is my last day at 17.” Doug said that he is planning on returning to Ireland this summer to continue making photographs that deal with the last days of adolescents as experienced by the teens in this community. What ever Doug Dubois makes next, I think we are all excited to see the outcome.

check out a Conversation: Doug Dubois & Richard Hines