The Dean's Arch: An Allegory
The size and scale of the piece was chosen to enable viewers to participate in the theater of the street scene. The ritualistic "play" being performed is the photographing of bride and groom under the Dean's Arch, a specific architectural location in an ancient Spanish city. The same play is performed over and over again but with a new cast of characters for each performance, accentuating both the similarities and differences between each set of of actors. The play is performed in the midst of audience members, some who have participated in this same play in the past and some who aspire to be the leading actors in the future. These observers become performers in a a play of their own.
Visual metaphors illustrate people's various interactions with the ceremony of marriage. These symbolic tableaus are created both intentionally and unintentionally by the juxtaposition of the setting, the players and the audience.
