I spent many years working with these beauties...surprised you didn't slip a picture of Kim Kardash-away in here. For soon, surely, they will cast her image as well.

tg, I'm sure her likeness will emerge some day...I wonder about some of the others; what might have happened to their models. for many of these, if the human model is still living, they are quite old...thanks for the comment.

My day job used to be a window designer for Jordan Marsh in downtown Boston, now long gone. We had a storeroom full of mannequins–you would have loved to be turned loose in there. Mannequin production shops employ art school grads to paint the faces, and we'd get to know a particular artist styles, like painters. There is a certain creepiness and melancholy about the female forms, but even creepier are the male mannequins. Too much painterly attention and they appear in drag, not enough, they become ciphers, or dolls.

These are beautiful Gary. I find the cracked, chipped, and damaged ones more appealing than the perfect glowy ones.

They all seem to have the gaze of Michelle Bachmann. Except that they are art!

Gary this was mesmerizing. I just loved these photos. Rated.

What a beautiful essay, both the written words and especially the pictures. As I read this I reflected that some day in the not too distant future a similar essay will be written along with samples of avatars like
Siri in my i-phone. Hmmm. . .

I took my time in responding to your post, as iI find it fascinating to study each face in length. What seems prevalent to me is that each pair of lips echo the expression captured in the eyes above them.

Rated♥

Greenheron, that is a wonderful story, taking me into those modest store rooms and repair rooms. You’re right, I would have loved to be turned lose with a camera in those rooms….Some photographers have had that chance. I remember meeting a photographer who was given access t o an old Edwardian Era mannequin warehouse in Paris! The results of her investigations were astonishing, showing the figures in various states of decay. They were all full face frontal like mine, each one individual, and strangely beautiful.
I like what you said about being able to recognize each artist/restorers style, and their task of finding the balance between drag and cipher…This experience of yours is worth an essay!

Thank you Kelly, I like the flawed and damaged ones too. It appeals to my tendency to empathize with the character. It almost seems they have the most to say to us.

Lea, Good to see you! Yes, especially the Newsweek portrait…not too crazy…

Mical, thank you so much. I’m glad you recognize the power these lifeless forms hold for us. I think we are really looking at certain aspects of ourselves when we gaze at them.

John, Thanks for you kind comment on the essay as well as the images. Perhaps avatars will go a way similar to the retired mannequin. Fascinating to consider. A brilliant observation of a possible future….good one!

FusunA, that’s a very astute observation….you’re correct. Thanks for looking and considering those shapes and proportions

I find these all haunting Gary.
and expect dreams just from looking at them all.

I agree...the photos are mesmerizing. Inanimate yet we assign human emotion to their expressions that in turn evokes emotion from us.

This: "They are reflections of our scintillating levels of need, and, in their way, they are carriers of beauty." captures what I'm thinking eloquently.

I had to look at these photos several times to get past the Creepy Twilight Zone vibe -- (I remember an episode with mannequins). After the first views they stop being scary & start being reflections of whatever I'm imagining as their "life." The more I view them, the more I connect with them, & then start picking out favorites, & it's funny the way the brain kicks in & creates a story for each one.

at this hour
she's picture perfect

and very unsettling,

she throws my philosophy,
my fears, back onto me,

i...
the incognito,

wearing the masks,
the wigs, of another
........................

wonderful Gary, the "automobile windshields for glasses" and "lock of hair encircling eye" taking me away to somewhere, well away ~

thank you.

C'mon, this was inspired by those Old Navy ads with the "talking" mannequins. Which, by the way, was a cute version of that creepy Twilight Zone episode about the mannequin who left her department store and forgot she was a mannequin.

These images are all those kind images that both fascinate and intice you to look deeper than what is on the surface. Bravo!!!

As poetic and somehow desperate as these mannequins seem, trapped in a single flash of emotion with a silent appeal to be made alive, I wonder how it will be when robots start to appear in th guise of humans so lifelike and dynamic that one needs small imagination to accept them as living creatures. I remember the Spielberg sequence in AI where the discarded humanlike machines are lost in a hellish limbo of not being human but not quite being machines either.
Very moving.

I love these, especially the more weathered ones. It's like the mannequin version of urban decay, a subject matter I find fascinating. It brings to mind natural human decline and death, made somehow safer to consider. Very, very cool.

You have the most incredible posts, Gary. Love these.

Gary, a very Happy New Year to you and yours! Amazing collection of faces here and the likeness of many of them to faces I may have seen over the years is fascinating.

#2--a Swiss Alps guide who buys his clothing in South Beach and stayed long enough for a tan??

Weird, wonderful and fascinating. ~r

paradoll-ia: when you see mannequin's soulds in a burnt or broken thing.

Lovely and haunting

exellent post - visually strking.

i felt some sort of connection to the film "a.i. artificial intelligence" at the sight of so many discarded mannequins

but why didn't you photograph any mannequins of color?

white artists frequently overlook this. there were no black actors in "AI", and few in any of spielbergs films at all.

mannequins are one of my fave thing to photograph. They have lives of their own.
Loved this.
HUGGGGGG

I like how you concentrated on just the faces. There was a manniquin factory in Portland that I visited once. I remember all the body parts jumbled together. Fascinating. Thanks.

I agree: This was absolutely mesmerizing, and chilling and heartbreaking on some levels, too. Reminded me of A.I. Rated for your unique vision and profound aesthetic sensibilities.

Unsettling images...

Beautiful collection. I've walked by mannequins all my life and never really noticed them. It makes me wonder what else I've missed.

an Editor's pick--good choice ;-)

So focused on the clothing, I never imagined there was so much variety. I also remember that Twilight Zone episode about the mannequins who take turns living in the "real" world? Great photographs!

I wonder what it means that I found these just horribly creepy. Well-photographed, but I truly could not even look at them all. Art should provoke, I think, and this certainly did!

Mission, I hope they inspire pleasant dreams for you…thanks.

Smithery, Thank you for the kind comment. The gazes do seem to trigger something in us. It seems to go more deeply with the faces we recognize on some level.

Suzie, absolutely the point! They reflect back our inventions about their lives. I do remember the Twilight Zone episode. I remember being so let down at the end when the mannequin realized she could not have a life as she imagined.

Inverted, Thanks for the lovely poem and for recognizing the windshield glasses on the photo of the brunette. I appreciate your visit and you are welcome…

Neutron, Old Navy has those mannequins with the exaggerated facial expressions. Kind of grotesque and scary….

Hello Algis, Thanks for the visit! Yes they do invite a deeper gaze than we might give most objects. I would speculate the ancients experienced their carved and bronze figures in a similar way, although with the painted ones with realistic details, it’s impossible to say how aware they were about projecting themselves onto the sculptures.

Jan, In AI, the horror of the film depicts the victimization of the androids by human beings. Part of the horror of those scenes, where the robots are tortured for sport was, the emotionless resignation on the part of some (robots), and total fear with others. There is a robot companion product that I find fascinating. It’s in the form of a baby dinosaur, about the size of a small terrier. It is designed as a companion pet for those who live in situations where a real pet is not allowed. It is also a valuable companion for the elderly. It’s name is Pleo: http://www.pleoworld.com/Home.aspx

I’m astonished at the video testimonials for owners, who actually love this synthetic pet. I hope people can check it out. If you see the robot as a useful appliance, then the creepy factor is lessened. Thanks for your comment.

Arresting images, Gary. And your lyrical words bring them to life in my imagination.

Leslie, I like the weathered ones too. They seem to have the most potential for animus, also less threatening when you see a degree of vulnerability. Thanks!

Kathy, Thank you friend! All the best to you…

John, I agree on # 2! And I have seen some of these from the 70’s. One to my favs is from 1913, the one with the facial damage. The eyes are large, and the face has a very serene look. # 19…..thanks for the visit!

Thank you Joan! Gld you cam over…

Greg, Good word my friend…thanks for the visit and great comment.

Baltimore..Hello, thanks for the comment. Mannequin that depict non-white subjects are very difficult to find in the antique shop venue. I am looking, and I will insert them as I find them. I agree about the blatant inequity.

Hello Linda, They do!...thanks for coming over, Hugs back to you.

Zanelle, that would be a treasure of a discovery. I know there i=are images of mannequin factories online. It’s a subject that has fascinated everyone for centuries.

Deborah, thank you for the comment..very kind

Hello Myriad…very, and complicated as you come to know them better…

Jilathre, they will wait for you to return…It’s odd how some tell their history through the physical damage. Similarly, we tell our histories (visually at least)through our physical abnormalities, and visible stress.

Hello Nikki. Thanks for the guidance and encouragement on this post. I really enjoy working with you and hope to continue as time goes by. Thanks for taking time out to come by. All the best to you.

Bluestocking, thank you…the variety is seemingly endless as you discover them. I have hundreds of images, all different.

Keri, Yes it should. I found it impossible to look at spiders, then I read about them, and the fear dropped away and fascination kicked in. These figures are made of glass (eyes), plaster, plastic, horsehair, and pigments.

Matt, thank you, You got the point so well..I appreciate you coming by.

What a wide variety you've captured, spanning styles, moods, and decades. The newsboy surely goes back to the '30s or '40s, and the girl under him is right out of Village of the Damned. Mesmerizing.

This brought to mind the Twilight Zone episode where a mannequin escapes from the top floor of a department store and tries to be human for a period of time. Fascinating post and photos. We can see ourselves in them, scratches and all.

this compilation is **fabulous**, gary. i'm mesmerized by the lineup and have gone back and forward from first to last several times, seeing something new in a face here and a face there every time. oddly, i see hints of friends in a feature here or there, a pretty woman's eyes or expression, a familiarity of glance. and at least one of them has hair that reminds me of my own on a not-so-good day. :) thanks for reposting this here.

Eerie and disturbing in their beauty.

This is absolutely facinating, like taking something invisible and giving it light. Well done.

Dirndl skirt, the children were captured in an old, obscure antique shop in lower-central Illinois. They have probably stood I the same place in the dusty shop for 40 years….maybe more…They are obviously cared for, dusted, and cleaned.

Erica, Yes, that episode has been mentioned a few times…I thought I was the only one creeped out by it when I was younger. Thanks.

Candace, You are welcome and thanks for the visit. I see a compilation of features from one to the next…all familiar, and striking. I see several relatives of girlfriends over the years, and a bully or two. I’m so glad you took time to visual study this series!

Sarah, thank you. There is an eerie element because they are so still in the flesh/plastic/composition/plaster..

Maureen, There is so much information to mine in objects, from specialized ones to the mundane. Thanks

I never knew people were used as models somehow I thought it was all in how you placed the eyes, nose and mouth. Some I found scary and some made me wonder what they had done to be cast out. I sort of feel sorry for them yet at the same time would never have them in my home.

I find it fascinating to contemplate how the definition of beauty changes with the times as depicted in our mannequins. Great subjects!