American Housewife | Conceptual

My intent for this photo is to depict a 1950’s housewife in an everyday environment with a twist.  I wanted the viewer to decide what happened before this photo was taken.  I had the model pose as if she was communicating with someone outside of the frame to put her in an environment.  If she were alone, there wouldn’t be as much questioning in the photo.  The main question I want the viewers to ask themselves is did the woman just prepare a meal for her guests and/or family, or did she use the knife to stab someone?  Once this realization happens, the laugh turns from friendly to malicious.  This idea relates back to how some people pretend to be happy in relationships when they’re truly not, or refuse to see that a relationship is harmful.  At first glance, the model looks perfectly happy and normal, but the few oddities make the viewer question this.  I used full lighting to emphasize the happy nature of the photo and to stray the viewer away from making negative assumptions upon first glance.  I believe I was successful in creating an ambiguous photograph in that it can be seen from multiple points of view, not literally, but relating to the story.