I have no idea if people enjoy these deconstructions or not. I do, because in a group shot the individuals are easily lost. So let's let each one of the kids from a class photo have their moment to shine, no matter how dull they might appear.
You can construct your own Lord of the Flies with these little fellows.
I have no information about where or when the photo was taken. The full photo will appear later in the week.
To see other deconstructed class photos click on "class photos" in the labels.
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They all look a bit...glum! Somehow the clothes don't look right either, as though they don't belong to them individually.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing the lads are wearing hand-me-downs from older brothers. They look like they still have room to grow to fill them out.
DeleteThis is just a guess, but I'm thinking orphan train. Form the 1850s to the 1920s, orphaned children from large eastern cities like New York and Boston were put on trains and sent west to be taken in by rural familes. It wasn't just actual orphans either. Street kids were rounded up and if they couldn't show a home they were added to the trains as well. A lot of immigrant kids who couldn't speak English also got rounded up, and if the local social worker couldn't locate a translator it was off to the railroad station. After their arrival at their new homes, the children were often put on a podium for inspection so local families could make their choice as to which kid they wanted. If one sibling was chosen but another wasn't, they would be seperated. While some of the children were adopted and became part of a new family, many were taken as unpaid farm labor. There is an archive from the orphan train movement in Concordia, Kansas. It wouldn't surprise me that your photograph has a twin in their files.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fascinating concept. It could be possible, but there is a woman still to be shown in the complete photo.
DeleteAnd did they send children of color out on the orphan trains? There is one boy who appears to be of mixed race. I would be interested to know if African-American and Asian children were ever rounded up.
I think deconstructing class photos is a great idea. Doing so provides a chance to see closeup details that could be missed otherwise and it makes the picture more personalized.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I think of them. We get to see what the parents never got to see, but would have probably rather had.
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