Woman/Purple Dress/Kitchen 1976

Laurie Simmons made this photograph, Woman/Purple Dress/Kitchen, at an unknown date. It shows a doll in a scaled-down black-and-white kitchen environment. I imagine Laurie arranging this set, a miniature world, and then she waits for the right light. It’s so staged but not really. It’s as if she’s looking for something that's already there – a feeling, a memory. The stark black and white flattens everything, making the plastic and the real cast shadows seem equally present. What was Laurie thinking when she decided on that doll? A classic pose and expression, in that oh-so-fake kitchen, with doll-sized food, and utensils. The doll almost blends in, a part of the furniture. There is a strange sense of unreality, a perfect representation of the everyday made eerie. Thinking about the image, I think about other artists who created tableaux, like Jeff Wall or Gregory Crewdson, setting up intricate scenes to photograph. These artists are all in conversation with one another, and with us.