Photo essay Justification

Our photo is is composed of a two-part narrative. The photo essay is time based and sensitive, and gives an ephemeral sense of the fake city and the flashy, fake imagery pertaining to it.  As a base, we have a photograph. A simple 2:1 photo centered in a large white frame. This represents our fake city and gives a very surface level interpretation of it through the statue of liberty and the white borders.  The second part of the piece is the time sensitive portion, because once it is revealed, the viewer can’t unsee what they will experience. First, a massive flame erases the entirety of the photograph seen symbolising epiphany when entering the real city itself.  The flame is fast and doesn’t distort any reality as it is set behind solid glass represented the solidity of the truth. There is a massive contrast between night and day bringing out the extremes of New York and focusing on the night life realities. The fruit carts that give great deals are still sitting outside in the rain, in the dark, with the flies.  Union square is covered in new visitors including the rats and disenfranchised. That homeless man you donated change to is now dead and being u-hauled to a mass grave on some family-less island. A real dead mouse decorates the corner of the frame, giving an even more genuine experience making ithe art piece even more time sensitive, because as time goes on all that will be left is bones and fur.  We wanted to shock people. We wanted to horrify people. We wanted them to feel a sense of loss and surprise. New York city is a beautiful place, but if you want to see the cake you have to see the plate.

Post review notes:
If I had to redo this project, the statement of the mouse was too strong but I love the grotesque reactions it made.  People were really disgusted and it made me so happy to pull out emotion from the viewer.  I felt it fit with the idea and message but because the mouse message was so strong it.  To better incorporate it into the piece.  I love the idea of taking transparent paper and printing the photos or maybe more perfected more google search photos, place the dead mouse underneath the picture frame, and then place a very small light underneath.  That way it conveys the message of the real and fake city and still creates the shock value that I love so much.