Cassoni

I enjoyed the Cassoni project. Doing a project that forces me to set up a shot and pay attention to the details helps to make me focus on trying to tell stories or portray some sort of feeling through my images rather than just taking photos that I think are aesthetically pleasing. Also, it is amazing how Photoshop can merge multiple photos into one seamless image.
Although in class people weren’t fond of how the three panels worked together, I think that the three panels together is stronger than just the top panel with the girl in the red dress. It seemed like people particularly thought that the middle panel with the close up of the two old-fashioned looking men shouldn’t have been included. I agree that the middle panel doesn’t really add any new information. However, I think that the close-up helps to focus the work on the two old-fashioned men and thus makes the story clearer. To me, the close up of the men and their different positions in each image illustrates that they are in fact ghosts that wander throughout the cemetery, praying for others who are buried in the cemetery. The two men are oblivious both to other ghosts and live people who walk through the cemetery. I see the mostly hidden figure carrying the shovel is the bottom print as a real person oblivious to the ghosts. The ghosts are also oblivious to her. The figure with the shovel can either be interpreted as someone working in the cemetery or a criminal.
I liked working in a group because it provides people with whom to discuss and critique ideas, and it was fun. However, group work for art classes also can be frustrating in that you can’t just do everything your way. It is a lot easier to compromise with group members for a paper, presentation, or problem set than for an art project.