The Puppet Show

I came across the work of Winkler+Noah the other day, and felt simultaneously creeped out by/drawn to their series "The Puppet Show." With the slightest of retouches, straightforward photographs of small children are transformed into unsettling doll images. I was reminded of Hans Bellmer, in a very good way.

In the words of the artists, "Children we ask too much of, to be perfect, like dolls. Who speak at least two languages correctly, go to lessons in riding, dancing, swimming, judo, singing, fencing, and athletics. Children who behave themselves at the table, who know when to speak and when not to. And who don't whine too much. Children who hae become sons and daughters of perfection, pretense and image, manipulated by the media and the social context and who are inevitably losing their naturalness."

Via If It's Hip It's Here. ••••