I blame Dr. Who

Thérèse Bonney (1894-1978)

Not for the first time do I find my self returning to the subject of mannequins. In fact we even featured them in Photo Challenge May 2024. In the same way that I find clowns and ventriloquist dummies menacing, so the inanimate human doppelgängers found in millions of shop windows the world over have a tendency to, if not chill me to the marrow, haunt me in my darkest dreams. (I blame Dr. Who.)

Thérèse Bonney was a photographer of great repute. Born in New York in the late 19th century she was heralded for her depictions of children on the Russian-Finnish Front in WW2. Much of her work can be found in the Smithsonian; whether or not the following images of hers can be found there, I can't say for sure. However, for me, I find them far more shocking than any war photography.