Phylicia's biography

I was born on March 8, 1987 ,in Philadelphia ,Pa ,to Constance Allen and Roderick Jones. I went to live with my aunt when I was about 3 years old. I have been living with her ever since. She took care of me and made sure I went to school. I graduated from elementry school and then when I went to middle school I got locked up for Truency. I spent a year in Bethesda and came home in time for my sister's graduation.

I go to Strawberry Mansion High School now and I made the Honor Roll in the 10 th grade and have been doing it ever since. I came to the AIC program about two weeks ago and so far it's very nice. I have been picked to do a documentary about an artist by the name of Zoe Strauss.
These first two days have been fun. I'am really looking forward to these five weeks with my new friends.

Phylicia's final evaluation

1. My favorite part of the program was the fact that we got to travel alot because I can't stay in one place for a long time.

2. I feel that I contributed to the documentary by showing my skills and doing my part in the program that I was assigned , like for instance I learned about white balance and I used it properly every time I used the camera.

3. Working with the rest of group shaped my experience by showing me that things do work well together , atleast sometimes.

4. I learned about the proper techniques in shooting a camera.

5. I hope to use most of these skills in a future job position as soon as find the right college to go to.

6. My perception of art has changed because before I met Zoe and the rest of the group I just thought that taking pictures was just that ,taking pictures. But now I see it as art.

7. My perception of documentaries has changed a little. I just simply thought that all documentaries were boring but since I seen more of them, I had a change of heart.

8. The only thing that i would have changed about the program was the wheather , I loved everything else.

9. The program helped me improve on my knowledge on camera period.

10. Yes I plan on working with art in the future.

11. The program met my expectations and more because it was nothing like I expected ,but more.

Berenice Abbott and Zoe Strauss

Zoe Strauss
Star, 2005

My artist is Berenice Abbott. I am helping make a documentary about Zoe Strauss, another artist. When I compared the two of them together, I first found out the most obvious thing they have in common - photography. But really, they have some similarities and differences. In particular, I noticed that Zoe and Abbott took almost the same kinds of pictures. Zoes takes pictures of sayings and words, landscapes, and portraits of herself and other people. Abbott does the same things, but looks at things a little bit differently. Abbott might look at a building on a street, a shop window, or a clock and just see human faces. Another similarity is that Zoe and Abbott is that they take most of their pictures in their hometown or where they grew up. Also, I noticed that Zoe Strauss and Berenice Abbott both record everyday happenings.

Two pictures that I want to focus on are Zoe's picture of the lighted outline of a star, and Abbott's picture of downtown Manhattan at night. I love this photobecause I love the way New York looks at night. One thing I can say about these photos is the fact that they are both focused on lines, shapes, angles, and light. It looks to me like both of the pictures were taken at night. I love the star picture because you see the darkness surrounding the star, then the outline of the star, and then inside the star it is dark again. The use of light and contrast in these photos made me focus more on what was lit than what was dark.

Zoe's photo was in a direct approach by just snapping a photo of the star, but Abbott took the picture at sort of an angle. In Zoe's and Abbott's pictures they both use negative and positive spaces, but Zoe's used a lot more negative space to allow you to focus more on the star. Abbott's has much less negative space so that you can focus on the whole photo.

Good documentaries

I think that the subject of the documentary makes it interesting. Like if the people in the documentary is interesting then it would be more fun. If the people in the documentary are boring then that makes the movie boring. Like the movie I seen called Born in Brothels, it didn't sound interesting but I liked it. I learn about some of the shots and the reason that they shot it. After I undrestood the meaning of the word Brothels I understood the movie alot better and I liked it after I saw it. I think that if the movie is based on real - life situations it makes it more fun and believable !!