6/8/11

Deconstructing SCHOOL CHILDREN


I have done this before and will probably do it again until someone comes along screaming, "STOP THE MADNESS!" which will most likely just encourage me to do it even more.

I'm talking about taking a photo apart and putting it back together, deconstructing. This time I may prove more annoying than usual because I have four...I said FOUR class photos dating from 1942 to '46; 1943 is missing. In some photos the same children appear, but I have yet to spend any time really looking at their little faces to determine exactly how many made it to all four photos. Mind you, each photo has over 30 faces from which I can annoy you.

My computer dictionary defines deconstruct as:
analyze (a text or a linguistic or conceptual system) by deconstruction, typically in order to expose its hidden internal assumptions and contradictions and subvert its apparent significance or unity.
Doesn't that fit an elementary school photo? Am I not exposing its hidden internal assumptions and contradictions?

Oh I may be headed down a path no blogger should go...readers running in the opposite direction, unable to bear another shot of a smiling or confused kid. If you are brave, scroll down and continue.

I give you a few boys from the 1942 Pala School photo. These kids would now be in their late 70s; a story to be told in each face. I'm thinking boy number three grew up saying, "I see dead people." Maybe it's just me and I'm betting a whole slew of folks have no idea what I'm talking about.



Kids are just kids no matter the decade (or if they're time traveling celebrities).

1 comment:

  1. This is a terrific concept. I'm inspired to try a deconstructed photo myself. I agree about boy #3. My mom taught elementary school art for many years and developed a sixth sense about kids and their pictures. We still enjoy making up stories about their future lives.

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