Dolls

Club Natale Bay - Roatan

I made this photograph while on vacation. I was in the Caribbean exploring with my camera to give some context. I stopped to have lunch at a local privately owned small resort. Sitting at the bar with me was this cute little girl playing dolls. Her mom was my bartender and server behind the bar. The little girl was living her daily life, hanging out with her mother while mom worked; neither spoke English, but they were very friendly.

How universal the human experience is despite diverse cultures, locations, and economic conditions. I debated whether I wanted to use this image in my Evidence Of Personality & Identity Project or include it in my People Collection. Watching the little girl play with her dolls, I was acutely aware that I was witnessing a universal human process: creating self-identity and personality through childhood play. I remembered my own hours and hours of playing with army men.

In the end, I decided Dolls belongs in my People Collection because it is about the creation of personality and identity, not evidence of it. However, I wonder where, and at what age, this prerequisite process sufficiently crystalizes enough for us to go forth? And to what degree is it pliable?