lost dolls 001

i saw this orphaned doll a couple years ago in a parking lot and stopped to pick her up. it's tough to know sometimes when you find one in this condition what the story is. was this abuse and neglect or are these marks of love and ownership, and somewhere some girl or boy cries at the loss? "mom, we have to go back!" tough to say. like all relationships, it's probably complicated.
anyway i guess i'm not alone in the wondering. not long after picking up the little doll i came across a great book by randall whitehead called lost dolls. it's full of some great imagery he's found poking through garbage dumps and flea markets. some of it pretty disturbing. there's something inside that causes us to act out on these little representations. i know i'm guilty. i've sent a few g.i. joe's on suicide missions and used to pluck the heads off barbies to stick in my bicycle spokes.
definitely check out the rest of randall's photography here as well. he's a nice guy and one of my favorite shutterbugs.