Agape Charmani for Art-Sheep
Little Dolls is a 2006 photography series by Alain Delorme, a French artist whose photographic work varies, as he has explored, experimented with and tried many themes and artistic styles.
In his Dolls, Delorme comments on the physical and behavioral alterations a little girl incurs, influenced by stereotypes created and promoted by western societies and media. The advertising aesthetic that has been slowly cultivated since the beginning of the 20th century, is now dictating every move of the western man and woman. For little girls, the biggest inspiration of all, couldn’t be anyone else than Barbie, every little girl’s best friend. Every little girl’s gorgeous, stylish and anorexic best friend. These girls have a teenage doll with a lot of make-up on as their idol. And the irony in all this, is that Barbie is fake. Literally and actually fake.
These girls though, aren’t! Unfortunately, kids pageant shows and realities have taken it a little too far, with little girls acting like teenage women for the sake of ratings and publicity. Delorme’s series of portraits capture exactly how these kids are becoming the victims of a roller-coaster of money, success and fame, created by the media and preserved by their parents. His raw, strict and abnormal artistic result are pretty shocking and provoking for the viewer, who at first doesn’t exactly understand what he is looking at. And this is why the subject portrayed in Delorme’s work, is more current and worrying than ever.
