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Zoe Strauss is a native Philadelphian photographer whose images capture the candid genuineness of people and places, primarily in her South Philadelphia neighborhood. “If You Break the Skin, You Must Come In”, a film made by David Kessler, started out as a project where he would direct a youth group in making a documentary about Strauss. The film turned out to be much more than that. On November 7th, the film will be featured in the First Person Festival. As a preview to this event, I talked with Zoe about this film and her own work.

How did you feel about having a documentary done about you?

It was actually a much smaller project when it began, but I thought it was great. The intention was that the youth group was going to do a short film about me. But as the project led into more things, it became more complex. The project, along with our relationships became more entangled and it became a very different film and product.

Do you think that this project has changed any perspectives of the kids who participated in it?

I wouldn’t say that it has changed their lives, but I would say that it has had a positive impact on all of them, as far as I can tell. I think that the experience is something that they will continue to take with them through their own lives.

From what I understand, the film turned into the kids telling their own stories; can you talk a little about that?

Right, that hadn’t been intended to be a component of the film at all. As we started to structure what the film would be like, and the syllabus of what the kids would be doing, it became evident that that was an important part of the film. That was an important part to me, in learning about them, and it was an important part of them wanting to have their own stories told…

More after the jump!

What do you hope that people will get out of the film?

I had a strong interest for the people who made the film, David Kessler and the youth who participated, to have a finished product of this really extraordinary project. I felt that this project, and the interaction that happened during the course of it was so important that I’m happy to see other people watching how it unfolded. It’s a difficult film, I think, in a lot of ways to watch. It’s very transparent and because of that it’s often very confusing. The film is about everyone trying to sort out what the project is from the start, so it’s almost like it follows this build up of who knows what the hell is going on. The actual interaction and the work that everybody did is important for people to see. I think it’s pretty spectacular.

It seems like it turned out to be a project that reflects the same ideas of what you work with in your photos! capturing the lives of people that you usually wouldn’t see.

It was interesting how it happened. It wasn’t planned. I think that if it wasn’t for the particular group of people involved, it wouldn’t have been like this at all. There was a very interesting give and take that happened throughout the project that was really genuine, and it led to the kids wanting to participate in a way that wasn’t anticipated prior to the start of the actual project.

In your photography, how do you choose the subjects that you photograph?

I feel like its genuinely intuitive, it’s in the moment. For the most part its just people that I meet on the street, so it’s just strangers. Occasionally there is someone I photograph more than once, but that’s an anomaly. The portraits I make are in the moment, they seem compelling to me, I don’t necessarily know why. I approach everybody in the same way, I tell them that the photographs may be shown or may not be, and I tell them about the I-95 project. Then it’s just always that they say yes or no.

What do you think is telling about Philadelphia through the film and through your photography?

I think they are two different things. My photos generally are just informed of who I am, and I have a very strong identity as a Philadelphian. They kind of come from a sensibility of living in a specific place, and from a great sense of love and affection for where I’m from. The film has a very interesting feel that I think is also specific to Philadelphia, especially with the relationships that I had because of it. It started out as a project that was a relatively small and contained thing, but became this larger, longer thing that happened. It seems that part of living here is that it’s more relaxed, and there is the ability for connection that wouldn’t necessarily be able to happen in another city. It allowed a common sense of where we live and how we interact to be a part of the film.

The previously mentioned I-95 project is an annual event held by Zoe Strauss, where she displays her work under the overpass by the Target in South Philadelphia. She was recently featured in the Whitney Biennial in New York and currently has work in the Women to Watch: Photography in Philadelphia at the Moore Galleries here in Philadelphia. Check her website for more information on current exhibitions.

Zoe Strauss
www.zoestrauss.com/zoe.html

If You Break the Skin, You Must Come In
First Person Festival – Wednesday, November 7
7-10PM $10

First Person Stage
2111 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
For Tickets: www.firstpersonarts.org

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