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Photography

Middle Eastern Mannequins: A Secret and Surreal World

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chickybus
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Some are beautiful and have warm eyes that look but don’t quite stare. Others are eerie, with fixed expressions and penetrating eyes that seem to follow you.

Most are a hybrid: bizarre yet beautiful, surreal and striking.

During my many trips around the world, I’ve probably seen thousands of mannequins. None, however, caught my eye quite like the ones I saw in three cities in the Middle East:

  • Mardin, Eastern Turkey
  • Amman, Jordan
  • Aleppo, Syria

Connected Somehow?

For some reason, I found ‘them’ a bit more peculiar than the typical ones. Certainly, they have a unique look. But there’s something else that’s intriguing–a bizarre connection ‘they’ seem to share.

Do they come from the same manufacturer?  Or are they part of a sub-culture of android mannequins who live and function in their own little society or world? Perhaps they’re  similar in some way to the sea monkeys from way back when. Remember them? Their secret and surreal world also made one stop and wonder…

There’s so much more to say here…but maybe I should just let the mannequins…um…speak for themselves.

Cooperative Caption Writing

Originally, I’d left some of the captions blank and asked readers to interpret the photos and to come up with captions in the Comments section (check them out; they’re hilarious!) I then sorted through them and chose my favorites, the ones I thought best captured the essence of the mannequin or was, quite simply, too funny to pass up.

Hence, most of these captions are from readers. A few were a joint effort between me and them. And a few are mine. (See contributors’ list at the end of the post.)

1. Franky’s Hanky

Is it my imagination or does the mannequin on the bottom right look a little like Frankenstein? And why’s a tie coming out of his nose? The main mannequin dude, with the red hat, also has what I call a “tie hanky.”

Alternative Caption: #1: Tie-Land: Land of a Million Knots

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2. ‘Hey, Mommy–I Shrunk…Myself!‘

I can understand buying something slightly too big for one’s child if the sale price is low; he or she can always ‘grow into it.” But I’m sorry–this one’s a bit over the top. I think it looks sort of silly!

Alternative Caption: London Britches Falling Down

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3 . Maybelline PMS Queen

This one doesn’t exactly give me a warm and fuzzy feeling; she looks a bit biotchy. I do like her lipstick, though. Nice color that appears to be long-lasting. Is she beautiful or is it Maybelline? Or simply a PMS queen? Actually, both. And the lipstick shade, for anyone interested, is…PMS Plum.

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4. Golan Heights 90210

Even though these mannequins were photographed in Mardin, Eastern Turkey (and not Syria), I think this contributor’s caption is hysterical and works great. Sure there were some cool-looking kids in Mardin (and some a little upscale), but let’s be real; none looked like this.

Alternative caption: Hulk Hogan Does Legally Blonde

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5. Buy 2 Hijabs, Get 1 Set of Zombie Eyes FREE!

I saw 100s of Muslim women during both of my trips and not one had this sort of shock ‘n’ awe sort of appearance. Seeing these mannequins, I wanted to ask what they were seeing that I wasn’t.

Alternative caption: “They’ve got Elham Shaheen eyes” (sung to the tune of Bette Davis eyes) Note: Elham is a famous Egyptian actress.

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6. ‘Watch Where You Put that Dagger!’

Here, I do know what’s happening–or rather, what’s going to happen. If you’ve been to Turkey (or if you played the last Trippy Travel Photo Game), you know, too. These are  special “sultan’s costumes” that Turkish boys wear for for their circumcision day celebration. The daggers were, I assume, once carried by the sultans.

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7. Not Half the ‘Man’nequin I Used to Be

Not sure what went wrong here. Maybe a mannequin designer got laid off and just didn’t get around to finishing his/her job? Or they decided to cut corners and cut off half his head? Whatever the case, he’ll never have to worry about a bad hair day. And that could reduce mannequin maintenance costs–a good thing in a bad economy.

Alternative caption: ‘No, my factory job isn’t dangerous.’

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8. Cleopatra Dominicana (aka, Mannequin #FAIL)

I call this one a “fail” because ‘she’ doesn’t quite make sense. She’s looks a tiny bit like Cleopatra on a bad day and very much like a former student of mine from the Domincan Republic.I think someone fell asleep or cheated during “Ethnic Mannequin Anthropology 101.” Or maybe the worker was downsized/disgruntled and sabotaged the job (see #7. Please excuse the hashtag; I’ve been on Twitter a lot lately.

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9. Mannequins of the Corn

When I first saw this, I had a flashback to one of the silly DoubleMint Gum commericals featuring hyper smiley twins. I also imagined some sort of “paddycakes fail.” But then, one of the caption contributors suggested Children of the Corn or a variation of it and I thought ‘yes’! Creepy movie…creepy mannequins!

Alternative caption: Mary Kate and Ashley (if Full House was cancelled after only 1 season)

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10. Drama Queens

I love this one for a few reasons. There’s definitely a sense of drama to it and story that seems to want to be told. Caddy women talking about another one behind her back? Or something more?

Alternative caption: “Dahling, you really need to get some sun!”

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Caption Contributors List

Specials thanks and credit to the following folks whose captions writing skill really caught my eye–and that of the mannequins. Fantastic job capturing the true essence of these unusual plastic beings!

Best Captions

#2: Hey Mommy–I Shrunk Myself: Aaron of Aaron’s Worldwide Adventures

#4: Golan Heights 90210: Brett of Our Tasty Travels

#5: Buy 2 Hijabs, Get 1 Set of Zombie Eyes FREE! Aaron (see #3) with minor editing from me

#6: Watch Where You Put That Dagger!: Brett

#8: Cleopatra Domincana: Helen B, an aspiring cartoonist

#9: Mannequins of the Corn: Iain of Mallory on Travel

Runner-up/Alternative Caption Credit: Brett, Aaron, Helen B and Helena, a rockin’ ESL Prof who’s in 2 amazing bands.

Honorable Mentions: Scott of The Shirt Off My Backpack, Natalie of Turkish Travel Blog and Helena.

Other captions (not on this list) were written by me, Lisa (the Chicky Bus Driver).

Thanks to everyone who contributed and to those who commented; it was because of you that this was successful and fun! #YouRock!

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Tags: mannequins,Middle East

chickybus

Hi, I'm Lisa...traveler, writer, teacher and chickybus driver. Off-the-beaten-path travel is an exciting way to see the world and to live in the moment—and that's what chickybus was about for many years. The blog was a bus, a vehicle that took readers/riders on various travel journeys...

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