“Do you want to pose with me, big sister?”

“Who’s taking the picture, my darling?”

“The fourth wall. Do you see him over there?”

“Yes, I see him. OK. As long as he promises to stay for dinner.”

“Let’s hold hands. So we don’t get lost. It’s a wide, wide box, after all. There’s no telling what might happen if we got separated. Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Oh wait. Let me get my doll.”

“I don’t like your doll, my darling.”

“Why not?”

“It’s too life-like. It looks just like you. Sometimes I’m afraid I might get the two of you mixed up.”

“It’s OK, big sister. My doll and I made a pact. With blood and everything. She’ll never try to take my place unless she wins the game.”

“What happens then?”

“She gets the rest of my soul. OK, I’m ready for the picture! And for those of you outside the box who came to this website hoping for more of that model in lingerie–you, the one staring at your computer screen…my doll’s made no such pact with you. Your soul is hers and she grows stronger every day. But we DO hope you can stay for dinner!

“Smile big sister!”

…

Yes, this is of Susan. Guess which one is her. Anyway, I saw this and I was like “…” Then I read a little bit more about it on the photographer’s website and learned that it’s part of a series based on another artist who used a shadow-box kind of style. So all of this series of photographs is using a box as a set and exploring surrealism. Think Donnie Darko. Think anything David Lynch. And think about the fact that this guy probably didn’t hire her, but Susan volunteered to do this, and this particular scene may even have been her idea. Could be wrong about that, but I don’t think so. On her DeviantArt, she says, she “digs the creepy dollness.”

This is supposed to be a completely uninhibited expression of something, like in a dream, where we have no boundaries. Where our Id rules. What’s this dream telling you?

Photo by Adam Courtney.