Doing Documentary Work

by Robert Coles

Published 8 May 1997
Sitting in his study, William Carlos Williams once revealed to Robert Coles what he considered to be his greatest problem in writing a documentary about his patients in New Jersey - the gulf that separates the reality of the subject from the point of view of the observer. In this volume, child psychiatrist Robert Coles, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Children in Crisis" series, offers a penetrating look into the nature of documentary work. Utilizing the documentaries of writers, photographers and others, Coles shows how their prose and pictures are influenced by the observer's frame of reference: their social and educational background, personal morals, and political beliefs.