Photograph or Moving Image by ForeignPhotographer/Artist
Inventory Number
84-PHF-017
This photograph of a sleeping girl was taken by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In those days, photographs of young children were often taken while they were asleep, as it was easier that way to keep them still during the long exposure times necessary for indoor photography. It was also common for deceased children to be photographed so that they appeared to be sleeping. So, it is fair ask if this girl is just sleeping. Traditionally, it was thought that the dead traveled to the “underworld” beneath the ground, and we know too that Alice’s adventures in the “rabbit hole” occurred when she was apparently taking a nap. Perhaps Carroll was tempted to imagine that this sleeping girl might be journeying between the two realms.
(KIMURA Eriko)
This photograph of a sleeping girl was taken by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In those days, photographs of young children were often taken while they were asleep, as it was easier that way to keep them still during the long exposure times necessary for indoor photography. It was also common for deceased children to be photographed so that they appeared to be sleeping. So, it is fair ask if this girl is just sleeping. Traditionally, it was thought that the dead traveled to the “underworld” beneath the ground, and we know too that Alice’s adventures in the “rabbit hole” occurred when she was apparently taking a nap. Perhaps Carroll was tempted to imagine that this sleeping girl might be journeying between the two realms.
(KIMURA Eriko)