Thursday, April 29, 2010
Art: The masks people wear.
It's been forever since we've done one of these. For new readers, I used to regularly share images of gas masks on a semi-monthly basis. No reason, other than I find them strangely captivating. In this batch look for the image of Hitler youth training for chemical warfare. The photog's shadow serves as a powerful and ominous visual.
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2 comments:
they really are just so creepy. you're right about that shadow, and people wearing these masks are creepy enough, but those dogs??
Zoe,
The dogs are so odd. Last time I did a series on animal gas masks, a reader wondered what the point of a dog gas mask was because it rendered moot the very thing a soldier wants a dog for: it's smell(not to mention the barking and biting).
I think I've got an answer. In movies, gas masks are used for their dehumanizing effect, so baddies will just wear them through long, extended scenes. In reality, you can't breath too easy in them, they cut down on your mobility, and you really can't see crap in them. In real life, Harry Warden would be bumping into crap all the time and losing his victims because his mask fogged up.
The masks are really meant to be very short term remedies to an immediate threat, and taken off as soon as that passes or you clear the area. Neither you or your dog would be just hanging out in them.
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