The Water Dance at The New York Times
“The Water Dance” is an audio slideshow featuring a voiceover and pictures by photographer Bill Cunningham. The photos are of various people doing “the water dance,” which is what Bill Cunningham calls the leap that one must take over a curb when the streets are flooded in New York City.
The audio is very clear with no background noise. However, I felt that it was longer than it needed to be. In several instances, I felt that Cunningham was being redundant. I think this slideshow would have been better if it was two to three minutes instead of three and a half.
The pictures that are featured in “The Water Dance” are all very clear and well-composed. However, this slideshow is not entertaining. Each picture is composed in a similar way, and each subject is in the same exact position, stepping over a curb. I understand that this is the topic of the piece, but I think that Cunningham could have gotten more unique pictures. He could have photographed people who just got soaked after stepping into a puddle.
I did enjoy how well the pictures fit with what Cunningham was saying. When he talked about waterproof rain boots, the photos depicted subjects who were doing “the water dance” while wearing rainboots. When he talked about how each gender approaches puddles, he showed pictures of each gender, respectively. I enjoyed watching how the pictures fit with the subject of the audio.
As a whole, this is a successful multimedia piece. However, I think it could be greatly improved with a wider variety of pictures, which would also make it a more entertaining story.
Lindsey Wilhelm 