When it’s gone…it’s gone…
‘Strange’ museum displays, ‘spooky’ shop windows, wig’s on sideways, missing limbs, crinkly clothes, dusty appearance, an occasional ‘musty’ smell, and dynamic poses…what might I be describing? Well it’s those favourite’s of mine…mannequins! Sadly it seems they are disappearing fast…so what is to be done about it? Times are a changing with minimalism, clean lines, and a sleek appearance, this is what’s ‘important’ these days, even some Charity shops are transforming to look like…’not Charity Shops’ but ‘new shops selling old things’..hmmm not sure if that really works…
But what about ‘things’, items or ‘beings’…that are just a bit…well ‘wonky’? They are not ‘new’ there are old and well past their ‘sell by date’ they may have a missing hand or leg, peeling makeup, a chipped nose and a off centre wig with clothes hanging off…and I just love them! Not just for the nostalgia, but the way they mar with the ‘perfection’ we see everywhere…every day..which just hacks me off…Where’s the individuality when everything is the ‘same’? We have the same shops on the High street, in Shopping Centres, products and displays so ‘where’ is the difference? That is why I love these heroes/heroines of originality and imperfection, you can’t predict where you’ll see them or what they’ll be wearing…so now where can you find them? 
Well that’s the question…there are still a few left knocking about…but unfortunately I see them less and less…which makes me really sad and depressed. A while back in around 2010, I visited a local museum with the very said ‘same’ mannequins on display, they were ‘off-kilter’ and fantastic so with that in mind I wanted to go back there and photograph them with a better quality camera. 
After racking my brains as to what is was called and where it was..I was extremely dismayed to find the demise of this museum with it closing its doors forever shortly after my visit….I was shocked…the owner got ill and tried to sell everything intact but there was no buyers…at all…only for the property, all his collection and mannequins had to go….(where I wonder??) which is very sad, as it will never be seen again. 
His collection has quite literally disappeared off the face of the earth…and is now a children’s adventure centre (as there’s quite a bit of land), great in itself but what is gone is…is gone, for good…and cannot be replaced. In my frequent travels through various Charity and Secondhand shops there are still a few of these wonderful ‘relics’ left, I love seeing them and will be very sad to see them go…am I the only one? In a world where everything is ‘airbrushed, rehearsed and staged’ it’s great that these strange ‘mutations’ are still on display…though you better get looking very quickly as in a few years..they could be all gone….which to me is very scary…where will I be then…without these icons of a ‘nether’ world..?
And now my final and oldest picture dating for all the way back to June…….1999…when camera phone technology was in its infancy and it shows! At least I think it was a camera phone,…can’t remember now…It’s all a bit ‘long ago’..
