Reading Response for Chapter 2

When doing the reading, I wanted to find specific conceptual and stylistic examples that I could incorporate into my photograph for project number four. In chapter two, the book said that "One of the great uses of tableau photography is as a format that can carry intense but ambiguous drama that is then shaped by the viewer's own train of thought." I enjoyed this characteristic of the tableau photography genre because I value photography that provokes me and causes me to evaluate different aspects of my life. I enjoyed Liza May Post's photographs that have elements of surrealism and uncertainty. She dressed up her subjects in androgynous clothing and placed them in positions where it was impossible to know what gender they were or what they were doing. I liked how she played with form and the body. Her photographs leave the narrative up the viewer's own personal interpretation, which I hope to aspire in my project. Another point that I want to use in my photograph is the idea of an "otherworldliness found in contemporary life [...]". I definitely found some interesting ways to push my idea further through the reading.