Joan
Along my travels, I have developed a habit of photographing the mannequins in shop windows. This began in Holland when I came across a slew of particularly blasé specimens. They had far more dramatic faces than the mannequins I usually saw back in the United States, and their outfits were, of course, influenced by Dutch tastes. It occurred to me that photographing all the different kinds of mannequins around the world was something I had a pretty unique opportunity to do.
When I’m traveling, I already have my camera out, so when I’m trekking the streets of Cannes, Singapore or wherever I happen to be and I notice a particularly crazy (or particularly bored — my favorite) mannequin, I take a photo. Every morning, one of the first things I do is name and give a background to a new mannequin. I also tag the mannequin’s location.
I am well aware that this is a pretty weird thing to do, but I come from a theater background. I once dressed up as a giant sea sponge and sang a song a’la Marlene Dietrich. I once wrote a play about starting a religion on YouTube, and a stage reality show which revolved around Miss Cleo and a hot tub. Blasé Mannequins is as much an art project as any of those. It’s an ongoing Theater of the Internet project.
Click: Blasé Mannequins.
(Because mannequins from around the world are awesome.)
tvangelist
October 24, 2012
Dear Annie, I have been photographing Mannequins for many years with over a 1000 pictures from all corners of the globe. I travelled extensively for my business and took the time to observe these strange manifestations of human likeness. Here is my new re-vamped website: http://www.melancholicmannequins.com and here is the link to the book published recently – http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3651021 (There is a cheaper e-Book available on the site). Congratulations on your Mannequins – Really love the commentary too. I also have a site on http://melancholicmannequins.tumblr.com/