All about me

!ok first things first my name is tracy renee Curtis aka crazy girl. ok im 17 years of age and i am studing this summer with miss Zoe.

MY LIFE...... i was born in south west Phila. to rosa and edward curtis. i was the 6th out of 7 children. my life went into pieces when my grandmother died when i was 4 years of age. i was put into foster care when i was 5 in a half where begin to feel lost and alone. at the age of nine my father past and i began to fall in depression. i had a real hard time to get over things . Now im older and i feel like things in my life would have been. this project

Tracy's final evaluation of the project

1. What was your favorite part of the program and why?
my favorite part of the project was that i met so many people i never thought i would. i also liked the fact that i felt happy for what i was learning and doing.

2.In what ways do you feel you have contributed to the documentry?
i feel that i had alot to say on how i felt about art and that i had a way to show myself through what i have done so far.

3.Working with the rest of the crew heled me open up to people and they helped me to learn to work with people from all walks of life.

4.I learned from this project that i can do more then just work with paper and pencil or paint. and that filming can be considered an art form

5.i will use all the informaton in the future to help me to get myself into college and also to help me broaded my horizion on what i wanna do in the art field.

6.My perceptin on art has change because now i can take on the feild in photography and to input it into my art.

7.My perception on documentaries has changed because all documentaries are different and some can change the way you view life.

8.i would have changed the length of the program because i believe that their was more to learn about filming and also about ZOE

9.I believe that i have learned a whole lot from this project and it has helped me improve the way i view life.

10. i planned on working with art for the rest of my life and . In a way the project has made me want to work with art alittle more.

11. This project did meet my expection and yes i wished this project was longer .I thinked i would have liked it more to work with Zoe.

Gordon Parks and Zoe Strauss

Zoe Strauss
Beware of Cats, 2005

Gordon Parks is very much like Zoe Strauss. Zoe takes pictures of people she has never met and what she sees in real life. Gordon Parks takes pictures of almost everything. He takes pictures of models, of sadness, and of scenery. He had his start as a photographer for models of that time. Zoe didn't really begin to do photography until she was about 30 years of age. Zoe does not take photos in black and white, but Gordon Parks' early photos were taken in black and white. Like Zoe, Gordon Parks took photos of different cultures. Zoe and Gordon both take pictures of nudes and of architecture.

The content in Gordon Parks' and Zoe's photographs is very similar for many reasons. In the photo American Gothic, a woman in front of the American flag expresses how hard it is to be a woman in the United States, playing the roles of both housewife and worker. Zoe's photo Beware of Cats shows a black woman with a scar down from her belly button, looking into the camera with a blank stare. The backgrounds in these pictures are very different. For Gordon Parks' photo, it is an American flag in black and white. Zoe's photo is taken outside of an abandoned house with door painted with "Beware of Cats" in white paint. The intention of Zoe's photo is to show the woman's pain of not being able to have children. Both photos showed shallow spaces. The background in American Gothic was less in focus to show the woman with the broom and mop, but the background in Beware of Cats was in equal focus with the woman in front. Both are not taken from an angle - they are face-forward pictures. They both show African-American women holding something that represents something about them, such as the broom and mop, or the zipper from the woman's pants that is open to show her suffering.

Zoe's artwork from other people's perspective

well this week i have met alot of people from different walks of life that all felt the same about Zoe Strauss.First and formost we interviewed Elyse Gonazales at ICA that had help bring Zoe's art to the museum. The whenever Wednesday was a great success. There were many people that came to see Zoe's work and all of who we talked to about the show and Zoe's work were all in love with it. "Many of the people who were there were artists and friends and family who all admire and adore Zoe.One at the show was Albert Yee who is one of Zoe's biggest Fans. He explained how her work has really explained Philadephia's history and the story of today.She had inspired him to take more photos of real life.Yesterday the Whitney Student from New York came to Zoe's studio and her art at the ramp of the ICA.

As the People at the Whenever Wendsday watched ther slideshow of Zoe's work some looked as though they were enjoying the art and the music as for the others they looked like they just didnt get it.Zoe's work has Affected a large Number of people in a good way.The residents from Philly really had alot in common because of where her pictures where taken. Some pictures where under the El at North philly.

the effect that Zoe's artwork had on me is very special because everything she has done and that i know her personaly has really affected my veiw of life and how i see it

What makes a good documentary

For me a good documentary is good music and that the person that the documentry about is interesting. I feel that this documentry will be good because of the people who are in the program. Zoe for one will make this project really special because it's all about her lol. The documentrys that we have watch were a snore fest at first. but as time progressed they became better because some of the filming styles have changed.