Misha's biography

all about the one and only ITALY (AKA Misha Sims)
i was born in alexandria,va in fairfax county on june 13th 1987.i moved around alot because of the places i was at. i'm 19 yrs old i live in philly. i dont know my mom and i'm not ashamed of it. i know my dad but i dont live with him. i live by myself, i'm in a program called SIL, but called DELTA. i've been there since jan. 13,2006 adn i'm still in there.i love to travel. i've been to:Las Vegas, ST.Louis,Texas,Washington D.C,Maryland,VA,South Carolina and NorthCarolina. i'm hoping to go out of the US one day.i graduated from west phila high school june19 2006 and i'm going to college at CCP on spring graden.i'm going there to study humanservices so i can help kids that were or are like me. tell them my story and how that people help me realize that the system is really here to help you and not hurt you.i'm a open hearted person, i let people in my life easy and it's hard to let them go.

Misha's Reflections

What I've Learned...

Over this last five weeks I've learned how to work a digital camera. They showed me how to look at art in a different way, a way that I would have never thought of doing. I learned how to work a video camera, how you should sometimes just let the action come to you rather than you goin' to the action. I see that documentaries can also be fun, they are all not stupid and they don't all make you go to sleep. I also learned how to not be scared to ask a stranger if I can take their picture, or to take pictures of things that are just crazy.

The Program...

What I liked most about the program was being around the artist (Zoe) and learning everything that she likes and dislikes. I learned how to see her photos even when at first it didn't look like much to me. Then when she explained it, the picture became clear for me!

The new experience I had was working with Zoe first hand, tryin' to see everything the way she would see it. I learned to not just get the good parts of Philly but get the bad parts too.

I also really liked going around Philly and taking pictures of things I never thought I would and meeting people that I never thought I could. Just having fun and working at the same time. That's the best part of the program and I'm hoping to see the finished product to see how everything comes out to be and how we look doing it.

The most challenging thing for me was having to come to the program and keep my personal life out of it. I mean when I found out about my dad- coming back to make up what I missed was hard!

Being with people I didn't know was hard at first because I didn't think I was going to get along with them. But as time went by they became cool and we all became friends. I mean we had problems at one point but we are young so that was goin' to happen. But we learned what to do, say, and how to act around people.

The artist...

Zoe is a great person. She makes you laugh at times when things are not funny. She has an open heart. She cares about the people around her and the people in her photos. She's not like a lot of other artists, she keeps it real and shows everything, I mean the beautiful and ugly sides of Philadelphia. I like Zoe- she reminds me of one of my best friends from one of my placements. I mean we were always goofy and silly and we loved to have fun. That's Zoe. She wants her friends and family to just be happy. She loves her job even if she doesn't make a lot of money.

Final Words...

For real, I thank God that I had the chance to do this, because I learned how to get ready for college in the fall.

-Misha Sims

Man Ray

Man Ray was an American photographer who spent most of his time in both Paris and America in the early 1900s. He was born in Philadelphia on August 27, 1890. He lived in South Philadelphia and then moved to Brooklyn. In the 1920s her moved to Paris to export his "American" ideas and inventions. He returned to America, where he settled into the peculiar world of Califronia and married Juliet Browner.

Man Ray worked in the world of photography, but did not become a photographer (although for years he was forced to work as one in order to live). He made several films, such as Return to Reason and Mystery of the Dice Palace.

Man Ray's photos are as much about ideas as they are about the composition of the photo. Zoe's photos are about ideas in addition to being representational. The intention of Zoe and Man Ray's photos is that they the viewer to finish the picture; when you look at the picture, you want to know the story behind it. Both are very expressive photographers.

Zoe and Man Ray are different because Zoe is a photographer of the 21st Century and Man Ray is not. Also, Zoe does her work in color, while Man Ray worked in both color and black and white.