Mr. A + 4S + U = ?

hanfordmra2flatdark
Mr. A + 4S + U = ?
2005
18 by 11 inches
Digital Painting by Juli Kearns, Copyright © 2005 Juli Kearns
Based on a photo from the “Hanford Historical Photo Declassification Project”.

Light box enlargement

Read the introduction to the Remixing the Hanford Declassified Project paintings

Uniform with gun + smiling woman in seeming evening attire + Manhattan Project = ?

If you know the meaning of the symbols in the poster, please comment.

Is it possible the woman pointing out the question mark to the uniform + gun is this woman standing beside a Patrol car and teasing with sign language.

The Manhattan Project was some sexy fun.

“The Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (RL) has aggressively implemented the commitments made by the Federal Government to openness in Government which was stated as a ‘Fundamental principle that an informed citizenry is essential to the democratic process and that the more the American people know about their Government, the better they will be governed. Openness in government is essential to accountability . . .’ RL is committed to responsible openness. The Hanford Declassification Project (HDP) was initiated by RL to declassify to the maximum possible extent all previously classified Hanford operations information (documents and photographs). There are over 77,000 declassified photographs of early Hanford (1943 – 1960) available… \These World War II and Cold War era photographs depict early Hanford construction and the employees/families who lived and build/operated the site.”

Comments

5 responses to “Mr. A + 4S + U = ?”

  1. Kate Avatar

    This whole series is really interesting. I can’t wait to see more of them.

  2. Night Bird Avatar
    Night Bird

    Everything that Idyllopus does is amazing. I am sorry I have not been here lately. But I do like this one. And that dress and hair…I swear my mom posed for that.

    Be Well!

  3. Idyllopus Avatar

    Night Bird,

    So your mom was a swank blond in spirited curls.

    Some of the styles from the period are amazing–and interesting the choices individuals made in what look to pursue.

    When I blew this one up large I was barely able to make out this was one of those bakelite type box purses and that she was holding also a little black book, which I make red in order for it to stand out. I’ve got a couple of interesting shots from a dress shop there, one which i’m working on now. Blowing up the photo huge I am able to make out that the skirt, which appears to be a normal skirt in the photo, has for its front instead two huge pockets cut straight across the top, forming the two panels of which the front of the skirt is fashioned. Really odd. Looks like it would be pretty uncomfortable. Cut tight around the bottom. In one of Jacques Tati’s films he shows a woman at work and to from the street to the curb she does this fast little bird hop each time as in skirts of that type you can’t move your legs. Years ago I used to have a couple of those old skirts and know the feeling and devising those little hops. The Jacques Tati movie was one contrasting the fascination with the isolationist futuristic, preoccupied with sterility and sleek line, with the reality of the befuddled, muddle human living in sloppy, lively community. A cute film and remains one of my favorites.

    In another photo this same dress shop woman is shown with a pose and hair style duplicating Leslie Caron exactly. I think I recognize the pose from the American in Paris movie though it may instead be Gigi. The face and pose *are* Leslie Caron. A perfect study. I have wondered if this woman was a shopkeeper or employee and how many hours she practiced that pose in front of the mirror and how many times she would make sure to show it off daily. Way out in the middle of the desert near a plutonium reserve.

  4. cruelanimal Avatar

    Another great image from you. This one has a vibe of Norman Rockwell furiously painting from inside a gulag. But the woman in the kimono makes the cozy Rockwellian surface subversive. I smell a detention camp on the outskirts of Mayberry.

  5. Idyllopus Avatar

    Rockwell. The Normal Rockwell didn’t enter until the painting of the index finger bending back against the sign. The pedagogical hand pulls into Rockwell territory.

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