These mannequin heads stopped me in my tracks on my walk from work one day. I could almost hear them talking about the people passing through what was then known as Justin Herman Plaza, judging their outfit choices and speculating on who was a tourist vs. who was heading to work (it’s not always easy to tell the difference in San Francisco, tbqh).
It was rare to find me wandering around San Francisco without Arthur Cox, my beloved Nikon F2 that I bought second-hand at Looking Glass Photo in Berkeley, CA. I always had a space for the camera in my bike bag and more than did my part to keep the local photo processing labs in business in the early 2000’s.
I also loved browsing the artisan booths on my walk back to catch the ferry home to Alameda. Many’s the time I’d get engrossed in a table of trinkets and end up having to take the later boat. I bought and mailed several earrings, caps, necklaces, and t-shirts to friends around the country and around the world. The creativity these artists possess is so inspiring, especially those artists that repurposed random items like used up gift cards and turned them into jewelry!
But on this day, I was so amused by these mannequin heads that I got the attention of the woman at the booth to ask if she would mind me taking a photo of them. The lady looked up from her knitting, determined that I—a woman carrying a vintage film camera—was unlikely to be taking photos in order to steal her designs (which remains a nagging issue among the artists/crafters). She nodded her approval to go ahead and get my photo. In my mind, I already knew the title of the photo would be “The Gossips,” (the title inspired more by Camille Claudel than Norman Rockwell, however).
This may be the only frame I captured of this group of mannequin models, since I wanted to be respectful of the knitter’s space and not block anyone from browsing her hats and scarves.
The Gossips (2009) is the latest addition to the Magic Turtle Studios shop on Etsy. These girls will add a bit of whimsy to your gallery wall (and may give you a “You’re going out wearing THAT?” look). It’s available in a variety of sizes—including Tiny Treasures—and comes in a couple of square format options.
If, like me, you once called the Bay home, you’ll enjoy this slice of life from The Embarcadero in San Francisco.