What the dollies are doing

Two years ago, my daughter brought home a bag of naked dolls from after-school daycare. They'd received a donation and had too many. The educator offered to my daughter, and she took them. About a week later, a bag of clothes followed.

Thing is, my daughter doesn't play with dolls. Never has. When I pressed her, she insisted she would try to play with them, and maybe have a few she could give away to friends/ family.

I started a photo experiment. I would photograph the dolls as they were found - I couldn't move or change anything. It was a peek into my daughter's psyche. It started with a willingness to try and play with them, but we can see their downward spiral into neglect. I think this tendency is human-nature. We have good intentions, but we may not know ourselves well enough, or we do know, but don't have the courage to say no. Here is their story. They are now tucked away in some dark cupboard.

A plastic bag of naked dolls comes home.

First order of business, my daughter says the dolls need a bath. The Ken doll is one lucky duck.

No clothing yet, so Ken gets a swatch of material to make him decent, and engages in some yoga.

These ladies frolicked a while in the large bathtub, but alas, things ended badly.

Clothing finally arrived, and the dolls were placed in orderly fashion for inspection.

Ken lost his clothing again, while tying to fix the cars.

I'm not sure what happened here, but it feels rather shameful.

She didn't quite make it into the bin.

Bedroom eyes. I think I interrupted an intimate moment.

A cry for help?

A lot of 'feet up' trends happening with these dolls.

Things are feeling a bit 'discarded'. I have no idea where her head went - I think she was the one missing her head in the bathtub.

This is how most of them ended up.