Meeting tommequins and other insanity

There are many rules on web etiquette. Don’t use your real name. Don’t give out
personal details.  Don’t meet up with anyone you meet on the web.  And definitely
don’t travel over-seas to  meet up with anyone. Well I was about to travel to meet
 somebody I didn’t know, who came  across as being just a little odd on the web.
 I was going to meet tommequins.

A couple of years ago I joined the Flickr community. At the beginning I didn’t really
know how it worked and how you made contacts. There was no rhyme or reason in
the material I  put up. Professional work and happy snaps; everything went up.

For years I have been shooting reflections in shop windows and I put some of these on
line. Finally I started getting comments. A group of fashion professionals and mannequin collectors  started to tell me the names and manufacturers of the mannequins that I had been shooting. I was inducted into the arcane world of mannequin collectors.

Of particular interest were the photographs of mannequins by a company called Rootstein.

Adel Rootstein started in the 1960’s in swinging London. She was the first to use real people

 as a reference for her mannequins and her designs have a bit of a cult following.

One of the Flickrites who contacted me was tommequins. I noticed on his stream that
he had  been to the Rootstein Showroom in New York to see their new season’s mannequins. I was  going to New York and mailed him to see if he could give me a contact so that I could go there to  take photographs. Tommequins came up with a better idea. He would meet me at the showroom and drive me back to his place in Upper New York State to see his mannequin collection as well. Tommequins collects, restores and repairs mannequins as well as a thousand other things.

My husband was concerned and asked for all the details. Where was I going, who was I seeing  and what were their contact details. My information was pretty sketchy.

I dutifully arrived at the showroom and the staff  were fantastic. They put on the light 
and sound show that had accompanied the seasons launch and just left me to take
whatever  shots I wanted. The theme was Native American Indians and the costuming
was sensational.

Tommequins  arrived dressed appropriately in an Indian themed jacket. Introductions
were made and everything seemed alright. But then he decided to become part of the window display.  He lay down and put his ponytail in the hands of an Indian. It looked
as if he was being dragged off for a scalping. OK it was going to be an interesting day.

As we drove into his town I looked around and realised that it would be a perfect setting

for The Stepford Wives. Everything was perfect. The shops were all the same with very discreet signage; neon signs are forbidden and colours are prescribed. It was all so neat.
As we drove  through the equally neat back streets of trimmed hedges and raked lawns tommequins asked if I could guess which property was his. It was really easy. I guessed
that the property with the giant mannequins  and junk everywhere was his. The yard
even had a wire enclosure that was full of unloved naked mannequins. The neighbours
 must love the family next door.

There are several homes on the property and I was to discover that every basement
was full of mannequins in various stages of repair and disrepair. Tommequins introduced me to his brother who is also a collector; they both had the same maniacal twinkle in their eyes. What had I got myself into?

The first basement we visited was reached through a side entrance. As the doors were
thrown back all I could see were the spider webs stretching into the long, dark distance.
I’m an arachnophobe so made tommequins go first to break the webs. It was very dark and
that hid the spiders. But once I was down  there I forgot about them as I saw the amazing
sight before me. Talk about Kodak moments.

Tommequins’s brother came with us and as I edged through a door to capture more delights I heard him say “no-one knows where she is.....we could lock the door and leave her”. Hmm.

They told me a story of when the boiler in one of the basements needed repair. They arranged for the repairman to attend. Within a few minutes of his arrival he rang them saying that he was  too freaked out to stay and they needed to get someone else. All those bodies looking at him was just  too much. Fabulous setting for a teen horror flick.

The next basement looked as if a mannequin massacre had occurred. Body pieces
strewn everywhere. More cobwebs. More spiders.

We visited the studio which is where all the repairs are carried out. Every room 
including a toilet and every surface was crowded with heads.

 The variety is extraordinary ranging from very old wax heads from France to a
wonderful array of Art Deco displays.

We went through his home which has another wonderful collection. Every room in 
the house  is peopled with mannequins. If a burglar ever made the mistake of breaking
in, you’d hear them screaming as they ran away to hand themselves in. A place of nightmares.

His daughter has a couple of full-sized Rootstein Barbie Dolls, they are very precious to her.

 On being introduced to her tommequins told her that" the nice lady had come to take the Barbies on a plane back to Australia”. To her credit there was a little twitch of the lip and
a wince but then  she said very quietly “OK”.

 

I was introduced to his wife and breathed a sigh of relief at a modicum of normality. The first thing she asked me was if I believed in burial or cremation. Well so much for small talk.

It was a day of amazing visual over-load. Starting at the exquisite Rootstein Showroom 
and ending in a few creepy basements. Back in New York I rang my husband and let him know that I had survived the day.

He didn’t believe my description of the things I had seen until he saw the photographs.
Back in New York I celebrated a great day.

Visiting tommequins and his basements are now highlights of my annual trip to New York.

PS.  Thanks to all the mannequin set for your encouragement and advice.

I hope to eventually meet you all.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dianeworland/sets/72157623260592773/

Florence

I had travelled to Siena with a group of friends. The group was planning two

trips to Florence six days apart; I decided to take my bags on the first trip and

return with the group to Siena on their second visit. I felt that Florence probably

deserved more than two days. When we arrived at the railway station in Siena

we were running late (the group I was with was always frustratingly late) so I

caught the train by myself and arranged to meet everyone after I had checked

into the hotel. My little adventure began on a train by myself travelling through

the Tuscan countryside. Not being used to group travel I was very happy.

The outer suburbs of Florence looked very dowdy, industrial and depressed.

The Grand Hotel Baglioni was very close to the station so lugging the luggage

was very easy. My room had a view but was incredibly small: I complained and

was shifted to a larger room. The hotel had a fabulous roof top restaurant and

garden that overlooked Florence 360 degrees. At four-stories it was one of the

tallest buildings in Florence so the views were great. Even if you are not staying

here I would recommend having dinner on the roof.

I met up with the group and we walked down to the main square with the Cathedral,

Bell-tower and Baptistery. There were queues to get into every building. Tourist central.

I had thought Siena was fabulous but Florence was spectacular.

The use of multi-coloured marble made the square look like a giant ice-cream cake.

The detailing of the facades would take months to document.

One pair of doors to the Baptistery was by Ghiberti, “The Gates Of Paradise”.

I’d studied these in Art History at High School. The fineness of the detail is

exquisite. History coming alive.

The richness of the exteriors was matched by the ornateness of the interior

decorations. I was fascinated by the ornamentation and illustrative

qualities of the ceilings and walls of the major buildings. The craftsmanship

is exquisite. I found these more interesting than the ‘must see’ pieces of art.

 Florence is a walker friendly city and is laid out so that it is very easy to

see the major attractions, although just meandering had its own rewards.

There are fountains and statues everywhere.

 The Ponte Vecchio was full of small jewellery shops selling very gaudy items and I

resisted temptation to add to my collection. Although I was to later find some really interesting earring shops and succumbed to the lure of pearls, rubies and emeralds.

A lot of the pieces are replicas of the Medici collection.

The legacy of the Medici Dynasty has made Florence a monument to art and culture.

The Medici Chapel is a superb example of the art of lapidary; the walls and altars

glowed with lapis lazuli, carnelians and other semi-precious stones and marble.

But along with all the history Florence has a needy underclass.

 On my days alone I wandered around spending a lot longer at the major attractions.

The most important one being the Uffizi Gallery. I was a little disappointed with it

as I feel it needed a better curator. Not all old art is good art but this gallery seemed

to display everything with pride and without prejudice. It needed a good culling so

that the gems could really sparkle.

 It was great to be able to get up close and personal with the religious art. The

books that I have at home don’t show the finer techniques and different materials

that were used to build up the density of the gilding. You couldn’t take shots so I

busily took notes on everything. No-one commented on me waving a pencil inches

from the paintings. The gallery has a wonderful collection of Botticellis and it was interesting to see the originals that I have been using for inspiration for years.

The hotel was directly opposite Santa Maria Novella with all its stunning murals

by Andrea Buonaiuto

Like all other Italian towns that I had seen there were Madonnas on nearly all

street corners. Lots of Kodak moments. I decided to get my film developed

and found a local chemist who quickly decided that I was mad with the amount

of film that I was getting processed. 

The major public gardens in Florence are the Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace.

The gardens were wonderfully laid out with various outdoor “rooms”. It was

obviously a place for the locals to chill-out on a hot weekend with families having 

picnics and couples wandering around.

On my last day in Florence I went to see David. A giant, impressive piece of marble.

I prefer the unfinished sculptures of Michelangelo as they have more energy and

humanity. No photography was allowed so I went and photographed a lot of false

Davids. Florence is well populated with them.

I found a lot of attractive restaurants and had a grand time pretending that I was

Italian. The general shopping in Florence was very stylish but I was bemused to

see that people take their dogs into department stores. I also visited the Palazzo

Vecchio built between the 13th and 14th century. Parts of it had been modified

by Michaelangelo. The interiors are magnificent.

I loved Florence and want to return sometime with Omar.