I saw this improbable scene as I was casually going down the escalator on my way out of a department store in Kyoto. I froze as I turned my head towards the next flight of stairs. At first, I couldn’t consciously grasp what was interesting about what I was seeing but after a few seconds it hit me. A girl leaning on the wall looking at her smartphone looked somewhat identical to the mannequin proudly standing next to her. I could only see the back of the young girl which gave an even greater sense of surrealism to the happening. I couldn’t tell which was real or fake. I thought this was a clever take on how the consumerist society we live in influences us. My Ricoh GR was hanging around my neck. I grabbed it and pointed in front of me to shoot a few frames. That’s when I took time to really work the scene: I moved laterally until a third mannequin appeared in mirror’S reflection and kept moving until a pink dress (the repeating color) would close my frame to the right. Notice we do not see anyone’s face. That is also on purpose. It gives a sense of impersonal sadness and stillness which can be often felt once you scratch the veneer of those consumerism Mecca.
