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Capturing The Face Of Philly
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| Mafalda Thomas-Bouzy danced the Bomba with her son Dominique drumming during the first preliminary “How Philly Moves” shoot at Studio 34 in West Philadelphia. This image is one that will be shown in ASMP’s “Focus Philly” exhibit at the University of the Arts. (Jacques-Jean Tiziou) |
By Andrea K. Hammer, For The Bulletin
Some photographers have the gift of capturing a subject’s spirit in a single frame. Others have the ability to reveal beauty in the unconventional. A rare breed finds a way to serve their neighborhood while reaching out to the world with their talent.
Jacques-Jean “JJ” Tiziou, a photographer based in West Philadelphia, does it all. He moved here in 1997 after growing up in Washington, D.C., and now considers Philadelphia home.
“I clicked with Philly the minute that I got here,” he said. “In my travels, as I’ve been exposed to a lot of different types of folks in a lot of different circumstances, I’ve found that they all photograph in the same way. People are people no matter where you go ... and while Philadelphians might find my photographs from Kenya, Honduras and Mongolia to be exotic, Philadelphians are every bit as beautiful and fascinating.”
Mr. Tiziou, spotted in hot pursuit of dancers during a Center City street performance, is a master of catching the unanticipated. The lanky photographer usually has his camera pointed at the world around him, recording authentic slices of life from fresh perspectives.
“During ‘bodies in urban spaces,’ I had to spontaneously climb up and balance precariously on a parking meter to get a high angle for a shot, but I recently also had to pull the same stunt for a shot while photographing a protest in D.C.,” he said.
“The principles of light and composition are always the same, and it’s always an exciting challenge trying to carve out a compelling two-dimensional image from the four-dimensional world.”
Mr. Tiziou explained that dance provides particularly interesting material because of the movement. He added that “bodies in urban spaces” was challenging because the event involved extensive running in a complex environment.
“Photographing dancers on a stage is one thing, but dancers in the middle of the city means that you’ve got a lot more visual clutter in the background that you need to work into — or crop out of — your compositions. The other trick with that piece was trying to get beyond the obvious shots,” he said.
“The dancers in their formations with their costumes were interesting enough subjects on their own. But if I photographed them from the same vantage point as everyone else in the crowd, my pictures would look a lot like everyone else’s,” he said. “So the challenge was in getting ahead, dropping behind, getting higher up or lower down to get unique takes on it.”
Mr. Tiziou also collaborated with sculptor James Peniston while conceiving a potential public art commission titled “How Philly Moves.” They proposed the dance-themed installation for a renovated SEPTA station at 46th and Market streets.
“Instead of something static, I wanted to do a dynamic installation with projectors or displays, so as to be able to use a lot more imagery and include more participants,” Mr. Tiziou said. “James and I submitted a proposal based on the idea of including both a sculptural component and the displays.”
He and Mr. Peniston, who is also a co-founder and the arts director of West Philadelphia’s Studio 34: Yoga — Healing — Arts, were selected as finalists but ultimately did not receive the commission. But Mr. Tiziou has held additional “How Philly Moves” photo sessions, and he may develop the project further in the future.
“It was the first time in my photography work that I went from event documenter to event producer,” Mr. Tiziou said. “I was still photographing in very much a documentary style, responding to the dancers’ natural movements without directing them, but it was an event that I orchestrated solely for the purpose of the shoot rather than going out to document a pre-existing event.”
As a photographer who generally works independently, Mr. Tiziou also learned about collaborating with another artist and delegating to a support team. A dozen volunteers coordinated the shoots, greeted 70 dancers, distributed releases, and prepared and navigated subjects through the process.
“I like working with slower shutter speeds, using a combination of the dancer’s movement and my movement to create interesting blurs conveying the energy of the dance,” Mr. Tiziou said. “This makes for results that are a lot more challenging to control and not easy to reproduce — especially when you’ve only got 10 minutes with each dancer and are unfamiliar with their movement styles. Working with just studio strobes, creating completely frozen images on a white backdrop, it would have been much easier to mass produce dance images, but I tend to find that look a bit static.”
Some of the photos from “How Philly Moves” were recently selected for a “Focus Philly” exhibit, presented by the Philadelphia chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). The show will open on Feb. 26 at the University of the Arts.
In addition, one of the images received national attention on the cover of ASMP’s year-end issue.
“I love that the type of work that I do can be of use to just about anyone, and this allows me to explore a lot of different worlds,” Mr. Tiziou said. “Because I primarily photograph people, it means that I can pretty easily go from a dance performance to a law firm to a wedding to an operating room to a protest to a genomics research lab to a rock show and so on.”
Mr. Tiziou also firmly believes that he can take an attractive portrait of anyone.
“The first step is to realize that everyone is already attractive, beautiful. There’s no such thing as a person who’s not photogenic. So you don’t need to manipulate them into something that they’re not — all you have to do is take a photo that does them justice. The trick is to make people comfortable,” he said.
“It’s always rewarding when people respond to a portrait and feel that it really captures the subject as the viewer knows them — not just a picture of their physical likeness, but something that captures a sense of their spirit, of what it’s like to engage with them.”
He added that images from the fashion, cosmetics and celebrity industries sell people on the idea that they’re not as beautiful or worthwhile.
“But if you take any of the people in the grocery checkout line, and you photograph them the way that a magazine photographer would, you get the light and composition right, and you get them at that right moment when they light up ... then you see that they are, indeed, the most beautiful thing ever. And I think that that’s pretty important to remember,” he said.
In the future, Mr. Tiziou plans to balance commercial, nonprofit and personal work with more teaching. Frequently involved in community projects, Mr. Tiziou has actively supported WPEB, a radio station in West Philadelphia, and Casino-Free Philadelphia (CFP).
“Collaborating with activist groups elsewhere has definitely impacted my community involvement here in Philly,” he said. “I’ve learned that people have to struggle to preserve and improve the situations that they live in,” he said.
During the next year, Mr. Tiziou also hopes to balance his professional commitments and interests — particularly photographing more dance and social change projects — with trips to places such as Arizona.
“I spend so much time and energy catapulting into people’s lives with a camera,” he said. “I’m now more conscious of a need to create some solitude time and [will] be going back to doing a little bit more non-people photography.”
Mr. Tiziou is currently planning a session with the Philadelphia Student Union in order to share his skills, along with his informal sessions held in West Philadelphia.
He has previously taught elementary school students in New Haven, Conn., and high school students in Los Angeles. Mr. Tiziou has also worked with college students at the University of Pennsylvania and Moravian College.
“It’s great seeing how fresh eyes approach the world,” he said. “As much as I try to stay open and responsive, I definitely find myself responding in particular ways. When I look at the images that the students who are new to photography make, it’s amazing because they see their subjects in totally different ways than I would. And seeing that definitely helps me improve my own work.”
Continuing an interest in live music developed from rock concerts he photographed during high school, Mr. Tiziou also hosts house shows for those who enjoy live music in an intimate setting. The next concert, which is open to the public on Feb. 13, will feature an a cappella quartet from Brooklyn doing traditional Bulgarian folksongs.
For additional event information and online galleries, visit www.jjtiziou.net.
Andrea K. Hammer is the founder and director of Artsphoria: Celebrating Arts Euphoria (www.artsphoria.com).
Jacques-Jean “JJ” Tiziou, a photographer based in West Philadelphia, does it all. He moved here in 1997 after growing up in Washington, D.C., and now considers Philadelphia home.
“I clicked with Philly the minute that I got here,” he said. “In my travels, as I’ve been exposed to a lot of different types of folks in a lot of different circumstances, I’ve found that they all photograph in the same way. People are people no matter where you go ... and while Philadelphians might find my photographs from Kenya, Honduras and Mongolia to be exotic, Philadelphians are every bit as beautiful and fascinating.”
Mr. Tiziou, spotted in hot pursuit of dancers during a Center City street performance, is a master of catching the unanticipated. The lanky photographer usually has his camera pointed at the world around him, recording authentic slices of life from fresh perspectives.
“During ‘bodies in urban spaces,’ I had to spontaneously climb up and balance precariously on a parking meter to get a high angle for a shot, but I recently also had to pull the same stunt for a shot while photographing a protest in D.C.,” he said.
“The principles of light and composition are always the same, and it’s always an exciting challenge trying to carve out a compelling two-dimensional image from the four-dimensional world.”
Mr. Tiziou explained that dance provides particularly interesting material because of the movement. He added that “bodies in urban spaces” was challenging because the event involved extensive running in a complex environment.
“Photographing dancers on a stage is one thing, but dancers in the middle of the city means that you’ve got a lot more visual clutter in the background that you need to work into — or crop out of — your compositions. The other trick with that piece was trying to get beyond the obvious shots,” he said.
“The dancers in their formations with their costumes were interesting enough subjects on their own. But if I photographed them from the same vantage point as everyone else in the crowd, my pictures would look a lot like everyone else’s,” he said. “So the challenge was in getting ahead, dropping behind, getting higher up or lower down to get unique takes on it.”
Mr. Tiziou also collaborated with sculptor James Peniston while conceiving a potential public art commission titled “How Philly Moves.” They proposed the dance-themed installation for a renovated SEPTA station at 46th and Market streets.
“Instead of something static, I wanted to do a dynamic installation with projectors or displays, so as to be able to use a lot more imagery and include more participants,” Mr. Tiziou said. “James and I submitted a proposal based on the idea of including both a sculptural component and the displays.”
He and Mr. Peniston, who is also a co-founder and the arts director of West Philadelphia’s Studio 34: Yoga — Healing — Arts, were selected as finalists but ultimately did not receive the commission. But Mr. Tiziou has held additional “How Philly Moves” photo sessions, and he may develop the project further in the future.
“It was the first time in my photography work that I went from event documenter to event producer,” Mr. Tiziou said. “I was still photographing in very much a documentary style, responding to the dancers’ natural movements without directing them, but it was an event that I orchestrated solely for the purpose of the shoot rather than going out to document a pre-existing event.”
As a photographer who generally works independently, Mr. Tiziou also learned about collaborating with another artist and delegating to a support team. A dozen volunteers coordinated the shoots, greeted 70 dancers, distributed releases, and prepared and navigated subjects through the process.
“I like working with slower shutter speeds, using a combination of the dancer’s movement and my movement to create interesting blurs conveying the energy of the dance,” Mr. Tiziou said. “This makes for results that are a lot more challenging to control and not easy to reproduce — especially when you’ve only got 10 minutes with each dancer and are unfamiliar with their movement styles. Working with just studio strobes, creating completely frozen images on a white backdrop, it would have been much easier to mass produce dance images, but I tend to find that look a bit static.”
Some of the photos from “How Philly Moves” were recently selected for a “Focus Philly” exhibit, presented by the Philadelphia chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). The show will open on Feb. 26 at the University of the Arts.
In addition, one of the images received national attention on the cover of ASMP’s year-end issue.
“I love that the type of work that I do can be of use to just about anyone, and this allows me to explore a lot of different worlds,” Mr. Tiziou said. “Because I primarily photograph people, it means that I can pretty easily go from a dance performance to a law firm to a wedding to an operating room to a protest to a genomics research lab to a rock show and so on.”
Mr. Tiziou also firmly believes that he can take an attractive portrait of anyone.
“The first step is to realize that everyone is already attractive, beautiful. There’s no such thing as a person who’s not photogenic. So you don’t need to manipulate them into something that they’re not — all you have to do is take a photo that does them justice. The trick is to make people comfortable,” he said.
“It’s always rewarding when people respond to a portrait and feel that it really captures the subject as the viewer knows them — not just a picture of their physical likeness, but something that captures a sense of their spirit, of what it’s like to engage with them.”
He added that images from the fashion, cosmetics and celebrity industries sell people on the idea that they’re not as beautiful or worthwhile.
“But if you take any of the people in the grocery checkout line, and you photograph them the way that a magazine photographer would, you get the light and composition right, and you get them at that right moment when they light up ... then you see that they are, indeed, the most beautiful thing ever. And I think that that’s pretty important to remember,” he said.
In the future, Mr. Tiziou plans to balance commercial, nonprofit and personal work with more teaching. Frequently involved in community projects, Mr. Tiziou has actively supported WPEB, a radio station in West Philadelphia, and Casino-Free Philadelphia (CFP).
“Collaborating with activist groups elsewhere has definitely impacted my community involvement here in Philly,” he said. “I’ve learned that people have to struggle to preserve and improve the situations that they live in,” he said.
During the next year, Mr. Tiziou also hopes to balance his professional commitments and interests — particularly photographing more dance and social change projects — with trips to places such as Arizona.
“I spend so much time and energy catapulting into people’s lives with a camera,” he said. “I’m now more conscious of a need to create some solitude time and [will] be going back to doing a little bit more non-people photography.”
Mr. Tiziou is currently planning a session with the Philadelphia Student Union in order to share his skills, along with his informal sessions held in West Philadelphia.
He has previously taught elementary school students in New Haven, Conn., and high school students in Los Angeles. Mr. Tiziou has also worked with college students at the University of Pennsylvania and Moravian College.
“It’s great seeing how fresh eyes approach the world,” he said. “As much as I try to stay open and responsive, I definitely find myself responding in particular ways. When I look at the images that the students who are new to photography make, it’s amazing because they see their subjects in totally different ways than I would. And seeing that definitely helps me improve my own work.”
Continuing an interest in live music developed from rock concerts he photographed during high school, Mr. Tiziou also hosts house shows for those who enjoy live music in an intimate setting. The next concert, which is open to the public on Feb. 13, will feature an a cappella quartet from Brooklyn doing traditional Bulgarian folksongs.
For additional event information and online galleries, visit www.jjtiziou.net.
Andrea K. Hammer is the founder and director of Artsphoria: Celebrating Arts Euphoria (www.artsphoria.com).
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