Mannequins act as both stand-ins for human beings and distortions of us — they’re idealized, fragile, and strangely haunting when broken or discarded. They embody society’s ideals of beauty, consumerism, and aspiration, yet when cracked or abandoned, they reveal the impermanence of those ideals. The “almost human” quality can make them comic when awkwardly posed, or tragic when damaged, almost as if we’re witnessing vulnerability in something that isn’t supposed to feel. Since mannequins vary from culture to culture, they can also become markers of place — reflecting how different societies project identity, style, and values.

I photograph them wherever I find them during my travels.