How Philly Moves is Returning

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Images courtesy of JJ Tiziou Photography

After a brief hiatus, JJ Tiziou Photography‘s project, How Philly Moves, is coming back with a new round of photo sessions open to everyone and anyone in Philadelphia who loves to dance.

“At its root, How Philly Moves is a photographic project, that is grounded in the idea that everyone is photogenic and everyone can dance,” said Jacques-Jean Tiziou.”It consists of holding these community dance photo sessions — where anyone is invited to participate — the only criteria being that they self-identify as a Philadelphian who loves to dance.”

The project started in 2008, and in 2010 Tiziou won a commission from the Mural Arts program to develop a 85,000-square-foot mural incorporating photos from the How Philly Moves project at the Philadelphia International Airport. The mural was dedicated on October 12, 2011.

Photos from the first three photo sessions of the project are part of a permanent installation in the Terminal B/C baggage claim.

Tiziou is currently looking for dancers for his next How Philly Moves photo shoot to take place December 18 – 21. He said he’s open to “anyone who loves to dance.”

“There’s some performers who like to be on stage, who will gravitate more naturally to this,” he added. “But I’m also looking for that person who is sitting there at the bus stop listening to their headphones who can’t help but dance.”

Watch the video below from the 2011 photo shoot:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjxW7-cgdxA&w=560&h=315]

Tiziou added that, although he had to take a brief break from the project, he is currently hoping to bring it back annually, maybe twice a year depending on logistics.

He said that one of his biggest projects is figuring out how to make community-based projects more sustainable, such as How Philly Moves and Everyone is Photogenic. He supports his work by photographing weddings, corporate gigs and some nonprofit work. He also does his own fundraising.

When there’s a project that Tiziou really wants to photograph but the budget is lacking, he explores non-cash possibilities for barter and advertising trades. Often that means Tiziou has to find other commercial work to fund his passion projects.

“The more support that I can draw directly from my own audience, the more I can be free to create images guided by my heart rather than constrained by what the mainstream market will bear,” Tiziou said in an email. “This means cultivating both individual project funding, and signing up sustainers who find value in what I’m trying to do: http://www.jjtiziou.net/jj/my-dream/how-you-can-help.”

Interested dancers and volunteers can apply here.

Learn more about JJ Tiziou Photography here.