The luring sound of house music engulfed my ears in the shopping mall and soon my body drifted effortlessly toward an upscale clothing store. From a distance I spotted a woman sitting on top of a display table which presented a fine array of clothing. Her hair was so lustrous and her brilliant clear complexion projected a unique glow to her presence. She was dressed very fashionably and her line of sight seemed somewhat distracted, yet sophisticated. I realized upon closer inspection that I was gazing at a very life-like mannequin. I was quite stunned, and I became conscious of several divisions and cliques of beautiful plastic women who were standing all around the store.

Although my initial reaction was one of surprise, my impulse was to photograph these mannequins as if I were a famous fashion photographer (perhaps for a few fleeting moments I convinced myself I was) and these mannequins became my models – “my girls”. I was not only amazed by their life-like presence, but the societal codes and information built into their form and presentation. These are the hyperreal women who model the products of this trendy urban store; they have the ideal bodies and aesthetic that is so prized in the society in which we live. Of course all of “my girls” have slender figures and they model a perfect arrangement of coordinated clothing, fashion items and accessories, whether it is “Tory” in her casual but classy attire, “Amber” in a sophisticated business ensemble, or “Cindy” in her bright, seductive, yet tasteful undergarments. All of “my girls” present the ideal image for today’s metropolitan female dweller.

I refer to them as “my girls” because while I worked at photographing them, I felt as if they became my artistic property. In the fashion industry, it is very common for a photographer, designer or agent to express similar language codes of ownership and gender. By dissecting the title, one understands the “my” to implement the element of ownership and intimacy and “girls” suggest a playful youthfulness, despite that these mannequins are clearly only representative of women. In order to capture the essence of these women, I have to assimilate into the culture and context that they are attached to.

I have returned to the store on several occasions to photograph “my girls” in their new outfits. My relationship with them has grown stronger and we seem to have great chemistry while working together. They are the faces on the frontier of fashion that evokes urban sophistication. They are the art work, the beauty and inspiration, and I am simply the lens. They are owned by all of us; they are all of our property because we esteem them and have voted them as our prototypes for human aesthetic, style and form. They are reflections of our modern urban landscape, therefore they are “our girls”. Our girls will never fail to inform us what we could be and of the standard for body type and fashion aesthetic. They will always be there for us, and I will be there ready to capture the images that best reflect the world I live in.