(PCM) Despite the fact that we are in the 21st century for some reason the word spinster brings about a sense of fear to many women all across the world. The word draws up such a negative connotation and makes many women feel that there is something wrong with them if they are not married and popping out babies by a certain age. It is an age old stereotype that unfortunately still holds true for many women today.
Artist and photographer, Suzanne Heintz, was at her wits end with the social stereotype and decided to take matters into her own hands by beginning her 14 year art project titled “Life Once Removed”. After tiring of the relentless questioning about when she was going to settle down, get married and start a family, Heintz did just that, except her family consists of two plastic mannequins.
The husband is a tall, dark and handsome and the daughter is an adorable ginger haired cutie and the best part…their looks will never fade. Heintz and her family of mannequins have traveled all over the world in the last 14 years and documented their adventures with some truly amazing photographs that play on the notion of the nuclear American family.
Heintz’s goal was to prove that you can indeed be happy and single and the mannequin is ultimate tool to show the candy-coated shell with nothing inside. All can appear normal to the outside, which is captured in Heintz’s brilliant family photographs, but sometimes their is truly nothing but emptiness on the inside.
You can view the entire gallery of Heintz’s work by clicking here!
Here is a clip from the documentary about the “Life Once Removed” project titled “Playing House”
Photo credit: Suzanne Heintz 2012.
