This original image was made in response to findings about the toxic arsenic coloring that was commonly used for green dresses and wreaths. Although fascinating, I was drawn to this image because of the skeleton imagery and the part of the title “New Dance of Death” even before reading the article that includes the above image. I think the artwork already tells a compelling story, there is not an “issue” per se with the original cropping. However, I did really enjoy the image and wanted to try my hand at transforming it to tell enhance the story or tell a different story. Perhaps the simplest option for cropping would have been removing the surrounding text and calling it “A Dance With Death” or something similar. Or perhaps doing a tight crop near the faces with a title like “Face-to-Face with Death”.
However, I wanted a more dramatic change to the story being visually told. Another part of the image I was also drawn to was the way the ballgown wearing skeleton’s hands are clasped almost in prayer. In my mind, with this cropping we have a woman who has been left waiting, hoping, praying for something (or someone, if we take into the context of the original) for too long. Her idleness has has caused her to become death itself. (Hence the skeletal form).
While I do think the main cropping concept I used for this assignment is cropping to tell a new story, I have also (technically) simplified the background by removing the text on the edges, and I have changed the focal point and emotion of the image. The focus is now solely on the remaining skeleton, and removing the other skeleton makes this piece feel lonelier and desperate.
Hi Nicole!
Really great job on this assignment, you truly transformed this photo! I like how you laid out all the options you had with different ways to crop, and they all would work, but the one you chose tells a whole new story. The first image, though skeletons, depicts a warm moment of the two sharing a dance. Your version has an opposite mood, showing a lonely woman who has hoped and prayed for much too long. My only suggestion is with the composition, as the lady should have some room ahead of where she is looking. I know this would then reveal the other skeleton, so maybe your image could be used as a graphic on the left side of an ad or something so there would be white space to the right of her.
Hi Nicole,
I remember reading about arsenic green but more in paint form, had no idea it was used as a dye base for fabrics as well, but i guess it makes sense. I do believe that the image is transformed from the crop. By turning the image from a waltzing couple to that of a lowly widow. I do agree with Amal in the sense that the crop feels a bit tight. By cropping the image on the actual dress it feels a bit too restricted. I understand that this is a limitation due to the original, however this is something that you can think about for the next one. In other words, if the crop did not work out too well, perhaps a different image would have been better suited to complete this assignment. I appreciate your description and the fact that you tried something different by using an illustration.
Hey Nicole! Like Nicole and Kenneth, I really like the direction you went with this photo crop. The new image demonstrates a story of despair and demise for the skeleton, as death becomes her (I still need to watch that movie). I will say, however, I don’t exactly see the skeleton in a prayer pose per se, because it almost looks like she’s holding a fan in her hands. It’s hard to tell since the illustration is done in one color though. In any case, I think there is new meaning to this image, and the skeleton reminds me of the corpse bride. For my improvement recommendations, I would’ve loved to see the rest of the skeleton’s dress and not have it cut out of frame to allow for more white space/headroom, but I understand there were limitations with the other skeleton in frame. If this were an assignment to demonstrate editing capabilities with Photoshop or some other tool, I would suggest editing out the second skeleton.
Hey Nicole! Like Amal and Kenneth, I really like the direction you went with this photo crop. The new image demonstrates a story of despair and demise for the skeleton, as death becomes her (I still need to watch that movie). I will say, however, I don’t exactly see the skeleton in a prayer pose per se, because it almost looks like she’s holding a fan in her hands. It’s hard to tell since the illustration is done in one color though. In any case, I think there is new meaning to this image, and the skeleton reminds me of the corpse bride. For my improvement recommendations, I would’ve loved to see the rest of the skeleton’s dress and not have it cut out of frame to allow for more white space/headroom, but I understand there were limitations with the other skeleton in frame. If this were an assignment to demonstrate editing capabilities with Photoshop or some other tool, I would suggest editing out the second skeleton.