Small town girl project
You may recognise Elize’s name from the Triple J breakfast news reports, but what you probably don’t know is that for the past six and a half years, Elize has been documenting the lives of teenage girls in Australia, South Africa, and the United States. While her news reading days might be behind her now as she embarks on new career adventures, her photo documentary project still continues and is a beautiful insight into the lives of teen girls today.
Muse & Photos–
Elize Strydom
@smalltowngirlproject
Words–
Nat Woods
@nat.woods_
Originally published in Paradiso Issue 13
Elize, you grew up in Grafton, listening to the radio, listening to Triple J, and you landed there doing that. And you’ve also been doing the Small Town Girl Photographic Documentary – so tell us about that and how it links back to your journey as well.
In 2011 I took three months of leave without pay from the ABC to study Photojournalism at the International Centre of Photography in New York. I got into that course and went over to New York and studied for three months and absolutely loved it! When I got back I was like, “I need a project, I need to start working on something!” I started a few things but nothing really felt right … and I think it was a trip back home to visit my family in Grafton it hit me at one point, that “Woah it’s so different here to my life in the city” – which sounds very obvious. And I think I thought it’d be really cool to spend some time with some girls who are growing up in Grafton and see what’s different, what’s changed, and see it with a bit of distance, having grown up there, and then left, and now living the city life, wanting to know if I would see it with a new perspective.
That was just the basis of it – it was never really thought through! I didn’t have a big plan. I thought, I’ll just find someone to hang out with and take photos of their lives. We had family friends, they had a 16 year old daughter, her name is Emily. And my good friend lives here in Byron and her younger sister was in Year 12 and she agreed to it as well. I took some time off work and spent a week with each of them and just took photos – I went along to their schools, and hung out with them after school, and took photos of their daily life.
What were those two weeks like?
Oh, they were so good! It really took me back to that time of life which I hadn’t thought of in that same way for so long. Because I think, you know, you grow up and you’re in the moment and you’re not sort of looking at it from an outsider’s perspective – you’re not going ‘what is this?’ There’s not that sort of self-reflection and self-analysis as you’re going through your teenage years. You’re just doing your thing. So to be on the outside looking in, it reminded me of so many experiences of mine as a teenager – some painful, some joyous, and some lessons that I’d learnt as a teenager that I’d forgotten or had fallen by the wayside. It was mostly positive, but there were times where, you know, you remember the pain of rejection in friendship circles, or having a crush on someone and it not being reciprocated, or the thing of like, being young and everyone’s telling you what you should do – teachers and parents and sporting coaches – all these people speaking into your life and talking about your potential and who you’re becoming. That anticipation that builds when you’re a teenager.
Yeah, it’s this high pressure time when all your emotions seem so much more heightened and it’s so much more dramatic.
Exactly! And it’s really full on! I’d forgotten that. How intense it really is and how much focus is on you. Whereas I feel like now, I can just do my thing and no one bothers me.
So from there, I thought I’d really love to open this up and see what life is like for other girls around Australia. And then I thought it’d be really cool to do this in other countries. And I picked the US because it was weirdly the country that I always idolised as a child – I guess because of TV and movies and music. I wanted to go to the US and see if it really is the way I think it is based on these sitcoms and movies or whatever. And I also thought it’d be really cool to go to South Africa, which is where my Dad lives. My Mum met him in South Africa and lived there for 12 years. Mum came to Australia just before I was born, but the plan was always to go back and live in South Africa, but we never did, and my parents separated. So I was always wondering in the back of my mind, what would life had been like had my parents stayed together and had I grown up in South Africa. So the whole thing arose from curiosity, and a desire to relive my teenage years maybe – through other people [laughs]. But it’s taken a few turns and become other things as its gone along.
Did you find that there were a lot of similarities or differences between the three countries and what these girls were experiencing?
I think the thing that surprised me most was that there were a lot of similarities. It didn’t matter whether they were middle class or lower class, or white or African American, or black South African, there were so many things in common. Those universal feelings based around friends, family, and relationships. They were the three massive things. And also I felt that all of the girls experienced that thing that we were talking about before, where there were a lot of people putting expectations on you and you’re feeling like you’ve got to become someone. I really noticed that it didn’t seem like people saw these teenage girls as fully formed – they were always developing into something else. But I was interested in who they are right now, not who they’re becoming.
Yeah true, because everyone sees it as this transition stage.
That’s right. And the more I did it, the more different places I went, the more I tried to focus on the fact that here I am with you for one week of your life, and I just want to know who you are right now, what you think, what you feel, what you’re going through. And it doesn’t need to be more than that for now. And I think that they really appreciated that – I’ll never forget a girl named Maya who was from Texas in a town called Justin – a tiny little town of 3000 people. And at the end of the week together she was like “Wow, this is the best week of my life!” Which was surprising, because we hadn’t really done much. You know her Dad had a car but he would take it to work every day so we just hung out in the neighbourhood and didn’t do anything remarkable, but to her just having someone take an interest in the everyday stuff that you do that no one sees – the stuff that isn’t remarkable, that isn’t going to be on Instagram and isn’t going to be celebrated in any way – that had an impact. And I think we would all love that, you know, someone to take an interest in who we are when we’re not trying to be anything.
Exactly, because the focus is always on what you’re going to achieve, or what you have achieved, rather than just what you do every single day.
Yeah! And to have someone with you just wanting to get to know you. It’s rare. We just don’t have time for that often in life. There’s so many in between bits that we never see of each other.
Do you think it’s changed how you interact with your own friends and family? Having that solid one-on-one time with no agenda?
Yeah, I think I just value it so much more – I moved back up to this area from Sydney for a lot of reasons, but the major reason was to be closer to the friends and family that I have up here. I want to be around for the everyday moments and the nothing days and, yeah, I think I do value that time far more now than I ever have before. I think you get to know someone by spending those times with them.
“I’ll never forget a girl named Maya who was from Texas in a town called Justin – a tiny little town of 3000 people. And at the end of the week together she was like ‘Wow this is the best week of my life!’, which was surprising, because we hadn’t really done much. You know her Dad had a car but he would take it to work every day so we just hung out in the neighbourhood and didn’t do anything remarkable, but to her, just having someone take an interest in the everyday stuff that you do that no one sees – the stuff that isn’t remarkable, that isn’t going to be on Instagram and isn’t going to be celebrated in any way – that had an impact.”
“And they were just so content just doing things that I might consider boring or mundane now – the way that they just hang out with their friends and would just hang out in the bush and throw stones into a dam, or just walk and talk and climb trees… I dunno, these everyday activities that you just don’t do as adults. Just killing time in a way that’s not structured and there’s no outcome.”
And I often think that it’s the people that are your nearest and dearest who you can spend time with and do nothing with.
Yeah and that’s so special, I love those times, and I think they’re the times that you regret not having with people, if you can’t have them anymore.
So what were some of the differences between the three countries or different demographics?
I found in the US there was a much greater focus on family and family togetherness, and doing things as a family. Whereas in Australia and South Africa, again it may have just been the girls I was spending time with … it’s a bit of a sweeping generalisation, but it seemed like in South Africa and Australia, the girls did a lot more with friends and were more outward looking. Whereas in the US it was very much the family unit came first, so many of them just hung out with brothers and sisters instead of going out and doing things with friends. But again that could be living in a small town – you’re kinda isolated, or your friend might live 10k’s away and you don’t have a car or a bike, and the only person around is your little brother and your younger sister.
Yeah I remember Maya who lived in Justin, Texas, I was there for 4th of July, Independence Day in the US, and there had been this big build-up that we were going to go to someone’s house and there was going to be a big fire and fire crackers and it was going to be this big night, but in the end her Dad needed the car, so we just stayed at home and it was a bit of a let down to begin with, but then we just wandered around the neighbourhood and let off firecrackers in a field behind their house. We ended up having this really beautiful night just myself, Maya, and her younger brother. And I just totally remember that from growing up, just being isolated and not having “entertainment” surrounding me and you just had to do your thing and make your own fun – they’re like my sweetest memories from my youth, I think! So the US, it just seemed like there was a big family focus.
What are some of the things you’ve learnt from the girls?
I think just their openness has been something that I could incorporate more into my life. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become harder, or more cynical, or more closed off to certain people and experiences. But yeah in all of them, I just saw this openness and willingness to expose themselves, and not worry about – well, of course when you’re a teenager you worry about how you look – but I dunno, they were just so themselves without sort of putting on this real front, because as we get older we put on all these masks and present a version of ourselves that we think is more acceptable to present company or whatever. But the more time I spent with each of these girls, they were just themselves. Which was such a strong reminder for me.
And also I think just that sense of wonder which a lot of people lose as they get older. Just that curiosity, and desire to ask questions about the world, as opposed to just accepting things the way they are. Yeah I was really reminded of the importance of that.
And they were just so content just doing things that I might consider boring or mundane now – the way that they just hung out with their friends and would just hang out in the bush and throw stones into a dam, or just walk and talk and climb trees ... these everyday activities that you just don’t do as adults. Just killing time in a way that’s not structured and there’s no outcome.
And do you try to hold on to those learnings and try to bring them back to yourself day to day?
I think so. And it also just makes me want to keep spending time with younger people or teenage girls to be reminded of those things. Because for a while you incorporate those things into your life, but then you forget about it and get back into your old patterns. So it’s good to have a reminder if possible.
But yeah, in terms of continuing the project, it’s been going for six and a half years and I really want to keep going with it. I don’t think there’s a point where I’m like “Okay, I know teenage girls and I’ve represented them completely!” That’s not the goal, because there are so many more girls I haven’t met out there! And I don’t want to lump them all into the same group.
