Biography

My name is Daliyl. I was born in Philly on April 23rd, 1986. I was put in a foster home when I was ten years old and my mother passed when I was ten years old. I lived in that home for 7 to 10 years. I went to West Philadelphia High School. I was involved in the choir, dance troop and track. I also like to go to the movies and go shopping. In the future I would like to be a dancer, fashion designer or stylist.

Daliyl's final comments

1. What was your favorite part of the program and Why?
My favorite part of the program was the day we went to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They have very interesting art there, including my favorite exhibit featuring the Armory artifacts. I also liked going to see the sites in Philadelphia neighborhoods where Zoe actually takes a lot of her pictures. I've never been to those parts of the city, so visiting them was new to me.

2. In what ways do you feel you have contributed to the documentary?
I contributed by filming with the video camera, which I became pretty good at. I also participated in interviewing several people with my team

3. How did working with the rest of the group shape your experience?
Working with everyone was good. It was helpful to work as a group, especially with nice people. We were all helpful during the team interviews and we could help each other if we got stuck. It was teamwork.

4. What did you learn in this program that you didn't know before?
I learned about video cameras- I didn't know how to work one before. I also learned how to talk to people in an interview format. I learned that there are all different kinds of art out there- different, nice, strange, etc. There were some things that I didn't think were art, but now I know that they are art.

5. How will you use any skills or information you have learned during this program in the future?
I hope to use a video camera in the future to make my own little movie. I also hope to take more pictures with my still camera. I think now that I might want to become a photographer.

6. Has your perception of art changed during the program? If so, how?
Before the program, I thought that art was interesting and sometimes moving. I still think that now. But there are now some things that I've seen that I would have not thought were art before. Like the drawing at the Art Museum that looked like it was done by a two-year-old. Now I know that it can be called art as well.

7. Has you perception of documentaries changed during the program? If so, how?
Yes, I learned that all documentaries are not boring, you just have to have the right subject, good music, and the right shots. I really enjoyed watching 'Rize' and the one about the homeless people living underground. I also liked watching the film made by students from Dobbins, even though it wasn't a documentary.

8. What would you have changed about the program and why?
I would have made the program longer; it could have continued until September. I would have enjoyed working on a documentary about another artist once we finished with Zoe.

9. Did the program help you improve on any skills or knowledge you already had?

I got better at taking pictures. They showed us how to use the camera in a different way. I think now that I will take pictures of different things instead of just people.

10. Do you plan on working with art, photography or video anytime in the future? How has the program affected this?
Probably. I think I will continue with photography and maybe video. I wasn't really thinking about this before, so the program definitely affected this.

11. Did the program meet your expectations? Why/why not?
Probably in a way. I think we actually did more than I was expecting to do.

Eugene Atget and Zoe Strauss

Eugene Atget (1857-1927) was a French photographer working in Paris from the 1880s. He often photographed statues, alleyways, streets scenes, and store windows. He is a documentary photographer, and often uses a direct approach to shooting.

Many of Atget's subjects are similar to Zoe's - stores, cityscapes, and people on the street. His photo "Sideshow Attraction" is very similar to Zoe's "Spelling Achievement Award" because both are still lives, contain photographs, and describe a real event or situation; however, Atget's photo seems more like amuseum display, but Zoe's is located in a home.

In general, Atget's outdoor scenes seem much more quiet and less active than Zoe's. For example, Atget's "L'Hotel Scipion Sardini" is set on an empty street, while Zoe's "Food Market" photos contain many different people.

Reflections on Zoe's work

Other people think that Zoe’s artwork is moving and different from other photographers. Also, other people thought that Zoe’s work was honest and raw. They think it is honest because it tells the story of the subjects’ lives. It is moving because the photos are emotional – they almost bring some people to tears. Zoe’s partner, Lynn, said that she really admired Zoe’s work because of its honesty. Jack, a young fan of Zoe’s work, said he liked Zoe’s work (the skeleton man photo especially) because it was weird and different.

The effect of Zoe’s artwork on other people is that it makes some people very emotional because it touches them in a way that they cannot describe. Some people think the photos are disturbing because some of the images that they show when they depict parts of life that aren’t pleasing – for example, drug use (one photo has a picture of a woman with a pipe) and also there was a picture of a person’s hand with part of his pinky cut off which leads people to wonder what happened.

Zoe’s artwork speaks to me in a way because I can understand the parts where people have pipes in their hands because I see drug use out there. I also think that her work is raw and it makes me think because I wonder about the lives of the subjects. I think about how they live every day. Her photos tell a story but you still want to know more. I wonder what the names of the subjects are, where they live and how they live.

Zoe’s artwork is about life in general and her life. It tells the stories about the lives of the people in the photos. There are also important themes in her work, such as desire, desperation and loneliness.

Three new things that I learned about Zoe’s artwork are:
We learned about how Zoe chooses what photos to take – she sees something there that others may not see. We also learned the background stories to some of her photographs.
For example, when she laid the photos out in her neighborhood, she chose the one that he mom liked (the photo had a picture of a building with “Mom we’re ok” written on it).

Good documentaries

What makes a good documentary?

This past week we watched many documentaries. The elements that I found the most interesting were the good camera work, music, and also when there was not too much talking. I also liked when the documentary focused more on the person who you are doing the documentary on rather that other related subjects.

Rize had an interesting subject matter. I liked the dancing, music, and groups (especially the clowns). The dancing was similar to voguing which is a type of dance that I like.

The rest of the documentaries were different but interesting as well. Born into Brothels had good camera work although the story was sort of sad. The documentary that we saw at the Fabric Workshop about the Korean artist was interesting because it showed all of his art and it also had nice film work.

Other documentaries, however, were not as interesting because there was too much talking, not good camera work, no music, and a boring subject matter.