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Current ProjectsShort Track: Photographs from the Asphalt Oval (Currently On Exhibit)
I spent the summer of 2007 working at the Wake County Speedway south of Raleigh, North Carolina. My interest in the speedway wasn't related to racing itself. What I thought was interesting was the notion of a community of race fans getting together to make their own races. I like the fact that instead being consumers of corporately-produced racing entertainment, the people at the track were putting their own cars together with the help of family and friends. Here's the project description: A series of photographic prints documenting the visual character of Wake County Speedway, a non-sanctioned, "outlaw" track where drivers (some too young to get a driver's license) spend summer nights racing cars that are put together and kept rolling by friends and family. In business for nearly 50 years, the race track represents a social microcosm where generations of families come together to make their own fun. The racing is close, loud and contentious -- a non-corporate, community-based entertainment in the vernacular of the American South. --Clifton Dowell The Depot District: A Commercial Neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina I began photographing Raleigh's warehouse district shortly after moving to Raleigh from Carrboro around 2000. I've lived outside rural mountain communities and in London, spent time at a university teeming with kids and been a caretaker on a deserted island owned by the National Park Service. Each place had a visual character that I could get my mind around. This was not the case with Raleigh. It struck me as an extremely difficult place to see, and the problem seemed to me more than an artistic one because I was at the stage in my family life where it was time to commit to a city and put down roots. 
After trying to make sense of shopping malls and highway loops, I found myself drawn to the downtown Warehouse District (also know as the Depot District and The Wye) because of its forlorn beauty. As a commercial neighborhood that grew up 100 years ago or so around the railroad tracks, it is largely in tact. And while there's life and activity to be found there, you have to look for it. My interest in the neighborhood was primarily artistic, but when parcels began to be bought up by developers anticipating the return of passenger rail, I realized it would be worthwhile to formalize my work there. The Southern Documentary Fund agreed, and in 2005 signed on as the fiscal sponsor of the project, now entitled "The Depot District: A Commercial Neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina." The political maneuverings regarding when and whether the federal government will foot the bill to bring regional rail to the Triangle haven't slowed for a minute, but the area seems resigned to progress nonetheless. I continue to take pictures there, mostly on weekends when no one is around. I don't have any particular timetable in mind. When something gets torn down or rebuilt, I dig back to see if I have a negative showing how it used to look. Mostly I do. Scope: I used "Depot District" in the title because there's a federally recognized Historic District of the same name and because that's the name the Raleigh commission in charge of historic districts is using. In fact, my area of interest is not as tightly defined as the federally recognized district, which is bounded by West Hargett, South McDowell, South Dawson, and West Cabarrus streets. The stated aim of city of Raleigh is currently to support the establishment of the Depot Local Historic District as a character guide for the larger area. Funding: "The Depot District: A Commercial Neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina" is a noncommercial media project documenting the visual character of Raleigh's old Depot District as a long-standing commercial neighborhood, and examining how the interests of developers, urban planners and regional rail advocates are converging in an effort to redevelop the area. It has been made possible by the sponsorship of the Southern Documentary Fund, a non-profit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) status. As a sponsored project of the Southern Documentary Fund, "The Depot District: A Commercial Neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina" has tax exempt status and donations to it are tax deductible. In 2003, portions of the project appeared as part of the "Our Streets: Documenting Our Evolving Landscape" exhibit at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. --Clifton Dowell Document360 Photography |
They were letting their kids get involved. The owners were putting nieces and nephews to work in the concession stands. Twenty-three of the photographs are currently on view at the Center for Documentary Studies in the University Gallery.
