Story Telling. Due 11/16/09

1. What is the first thing you notice in this photograph?

- The first thing I notice is the stairs, and the back wall, because the stairs are ascending up the wall.

2. Do you think the woman is dead or alive? If she is alive, what kind of emotions does she appear to be experiencing?

- I think the woman is alive. The emotions she is expressing could easily be depression, sadness, and maybe guilt.

3. At what time of day do you think this photograph was taken?

- I think this was taken midday.

4. What are the light sources in this photograph?

- The light sources seem to be natural light, sunlight.

5. How would you describe the environment or room here?

- The room in this photo is "dark" and appears to be a sad mood. It is very messy and things are out of place. The disorganization may show how the woman's life is going at the moment, and her laying on the floor, in water, adds to the "sad" theme.

6. What objects do you see on the steps leading upstairs?

- I see slippers, a robe, and a nightstand as well. Pictures are hanging on the wall.

7. Is the female subject wearing shoes?

- The female is not wearing shoes, her slippers are on the stairs, and it is almost as if she wants to trick people into believing she is dead.

8. The title of this piece is “Ophelia.” Do some quick research… what is the history of the name “Ophelia” in literature?

-Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. A possible historical source for Ophelia was Katherine Hamnet, a woman who fell into the Avon River and died in December 1579. Eventually, it was concluded that she had overbalanced while carrying some heavy pails, but rumors went around saying that she was suffering from a broken heart. These rumors were considered plausible enough for the thought of her death being a suicide.

A lovely woman, middle aged, walks in the bright daylight home from the store as she picked up a few things to prepare dinner for that evening. She approaches her home, when she smells the scent of a dead animal, and it didn't smell good. She opened the front door, water pours out over her feet. A cat floated out the front door. She screams, calls 911. Suddenly, her husband is standing at the top of the stairs with his rifle. He accuses her of cheating on him when she was really at the store. Her husband was bi-polar, and their divorce was up in the air. She loved him, and he shot the rifle, bullet after bullet, into her as she fell down in the water which he drowned their five cats in because one of them scratched him. The cats are lost in the water, the house is a mess because he wanted to find her night gown so that he could have a good story and make it look like she drowned herself in the water. The husband sees her eyes open, he shoots again, but she was already dead. He brought her upstairs, dragging her by her hair, took off her clothes and changed her into the nightgown. Lastly, her husband stood at the top of the stairs and threw her off into the water. The police never came, her husband had disconnected the cell phones, she was too scared to realize that no one was on the other line when she called 911. Her husband got away, he fled the city and now lives with his new wife and claims to be "happy" and says he is on medication for his behavior.