Melissa Ann Pinney - Reaction Paper 6

                After looking through Pinney's different photo series, I was not a fan for the most part, and for several reasons.  First of all, the photos that are on a slideshow when first going on the website are of young girls.  That's really all there is about it, the setting/landscape with them is not very complimenting to who they are or what they are becoming.  I honestly felt that most of her photos were just plain creepy.  With her White Dress Project series, I found most photographs to be sad and yet again, rather creepy.  They saddened me because (not all), but most of the girls did not seem happy whatsoever.  Some looked like they were faking their smiles.  This series showed landscape better because it seemed as though these girls were growing up in higher-class environments where being grown up is more enforced.  I'll mention the Cellar Door series of photographs last because that was my favorite series.  I actually like how she selected (from what I understood) one girl growing up.  It was neat how the seasons changed to show time was elapsing, so the girl was clearly getting older.  I also like that it was taken in the exact same spot because it added a neat element to truly emphasize the changes in the girl rather than distract viewers from other things that are going on.  Also, it may sound kind of off, but I don't find these photographs quite as disturbing because the girl isn't wearing a bathing suit in any of them.  Overall, I feel quite unimpressed with Pinney's photos because it seems to me like she did not put forth much effort in setting or landscape.  Sometimes taking photographs where little effort is put in is neat because of natural beauty, but in this case it just didn't prove anything.  She always zoomed right in on the females and actually showed very little of the landscape.  It is sometimes necessary to change up focal points in a photograph.  A little extra effort could really have emphasized her point in growing girls in certain settings. 
Jennifer Peterson