This is the entire photo essay, called Mannequin, that Hamish Kippen and I worked on for Fresh magazine’s Sept 2007 issue. I consider myself very fortunate for having had the opportunity to work with him. After the jump is the accompanying text I wrote for the images.
The following text accompanied the images.
Mannequin
by Nina Arsenault
Since I was a child I’ve been mesmerized by the visual harmony that has been sculpted into the designer faces of life size mannequins.
The tips of their noses reflect the shape in their jutting chins. The curves of their lips are echoed in the elegant arches of their impossibly high eyebrows, as well as the swoops of their almond eyes and the gentle bulging of their cheek bones.
Moreover, their pourless plaster visages are perfectly symmetrical.
Their false eyelashes are permanently attached, and their airbrushed make-up never smudges.
These feminine works of art are supposed to represent women, but they are often too perfect to look like a real female.
Maybe that is why I love them.
Nina Arsenault is a transsexual sex worker, actress and night club personality. She has undergone nearly sixty cosmetic surgeries and procedures.