No Barns, No Mannequins

In photography school, we had a professor who forbade us to photograph barns or mannequins for class assignments. In Michigan, where I lived at the time, barns were ubiquitous. Each one of us believed we could produce the best barn photo ever. Personally, I was drawn to those that were falling apart. The more

dilapidated the better. But I could see that, depending on the light, red barns could

be as delicious as apples. He was sick of it. No barns, red or otherwise.

Mannequins? “They’re too easy” he insisted. Mannequins do what they’re made

to do which is, of course, model outfits we surely want to buy. If we're lucky,

a few will congregate in a corner. Stripped bare, they reveal cracks, seams, and blemishes. Like all of us, imperfect. What’s not to love?  

Years ago I exhibited a photo collection of vintage dolls using the same trope of

imperfection and secrecy. A few years later I wrote a short story about them which eventually became the basis of my second film Apotheosis. You can view this

10 minute film at apotheosisshortfilm.com

And now I'm going to head to an online thrift store to purchase George Bennett's

1977 book Mannequins. I've had my eye on it for awhile.

Lesson of the day: photograph whatever you want. Who knows, maybe it will be the

best photo ever.