Living with Conviction, is a collection of photographic images and texts, is the result of a collaborative project between Hampden-Sydney College and the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, VA. During the spring of 2005, Hampden-Sydney students taught their inmate partners basic photography techniques and engaged in writing activities and discussion to explore the common ground among project participants. Throughout the project, participants sought to create photographs and text to express the qualities that unite--rather than divide--all people, regardless of individual circumstance.
The project is the culminating work of a two-semester H-SC Freshmen Honors course, "Social Documentary: Image, Text, and Context." During the first semester Hampden-Sydney students studied the power of documentary work to examine social issues, to construct realities, to change perceptions and challenge assumptions. In the second semester, through their work at the Piedmont Regional Jail, students became teachers and documentarians themselves, thus melding the classroom with the community outside the College gates.
