Cotton's Chapter 2 Once Upon a Time

Within chapter 2 Cotton talks about how photography is a pictorial narrative concentrated into a single image (tableau- vivant).  "It is important not to think of contemporary photography's affinity to figurative painting as simply one of mimicry or revivalism; instead, it demonstrates a shared understanding of how a scene can be choreographed for the viewer so that he or she can recognize that a story is being told" (49).  I think I especially enjoy Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler's work is interesting because it isn't just an image with elements or movements that are saying something about time but the way the image is separated reveals some sort of past or future time.  Another way in which you can make viewers more anxious and uncertain is by facing the subject away from the camera.  I also think that Deborah Mesa-Pelly is an interesting artist in how she remakes fairy tales and popular stories.  Lastly, Cotton talks about tableau photography without human presence.