a collection of faces...

a strangely surreal photo montage, dated 1913. i believe this large photograph is a constructed mythical meeting of various important people in the history of the salvation army. it looks like a very old william booth, the founder of the salvation army, with a white beard and book, in the bottom detail photo.

the montage becomes an archive of faces, forming a history, and in essence also an archive of voices. like a collection of butterflies in a box, captured at different times and different places; these faces are similarly held in place with pins, in close proximity to things they relate to, but never really touched in life. it is a scene that exists as a false memory, as it never existed in life, nor during any of the participants lifetimes. it revolves around fantasy, but on some level seeks to invent history.

the problem with this choir, is that without any outside knowledge or attached history, the voices remain mute; and one is left to create stories of this gathering, rather than able to speak of facts.

other than my relative certainty of the presence of booth, i have no idea who any of the people are. i have no idea why the presence of musical instruments exists only along the bottom edge; and i definitely have no idea what the crowd in the midst of a giant greek temple is supposed to symbolize...

it is certainly a nice pre-cursor to some early surrealist collages; and i should also mention that the dealer i bought it from, said he found it in the trash.