The
Portrayal of Children in Their Natural State
The idea of portraying children
in their most natural state: without posing or staging, seems to be a
common style in children's portraiture. In John Everett Millais’ My
Second Sermon, 1864,
Millais captured the moment of a little girl sleeping during a
sermon.
The
very natural state of the girl is shown with her back against the
wall, head tipped to one side and body slightly sliding. By depicting
the little girl like this, Millais is not merely showing viewers an
image of the little girl, but also her characteristics as a child.
The idea of capturing images of
children sleeping reminds me of a contemporary creative designer,
Adele Enersen. Enersen poses her sleeping child in postures that
match the colorful scenes she creates using things in her home.
Interestingly, Enersen’s work is similar, but as the same time
opposite to the work of Millais. The similarity being that both
Millais and Enerse choose the moment when the child is asleep,
therefore a natural state. However, by carefully arranging things
around her sleeping child, Enersen is creating an entirely different
image, that at the same time does not destruct the natural state of
her child.
In Millais’ painting, a very
realistic scene of the little girl asleep in her second sermon is
shown. By depicting the little girl in a concrete, non-arranged
environment, Millais places an emphasis on the true nature of
children. Whereas in Enersen’s photograph, a realistic scene of a
child sleeping on and surrounded by objects commonly seen in a
household is combined with the abstract idea of dreams. The theme of
dreams in Enersen’s photograph allows her to play with the aspect
of imagination in children’s characteristic.
In conclusion, it is interesting
to see how capturing the image of children may no longer be enough
for contemporary people. It seems nowadays, individuals seek to
produce images that capture both the realistic external and the
imaginary internal characters of children.
John
Everett Millais’ My
Second Sermon, 1864
Adele
Enersen
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