As a child, I was always bothered by Barbie's permanent smile. I put her through any number of tragedies, but no matter what befell her, she retained that pleased little smirk. When I began my series, my idea was simply to put Barbie in situations where the smile was completely inappropriate- walking in on a cheating husband, a DUI arrest. The more I worked, however, the more I realized Barbie's ridiculousness extends beyond the fixed smile. She is an icon of perfection, a model of physical beauty, a career woman with every job imaginable- but she has a body that could never be achieved naturally, and how many careers are really available to a plastic surgery addict who thought that "Math class is tough!"? Her outer perfection can only be a mask.

My photography and I are not associated with Mattel in any way.

All of these photographs are shot with 35 mm film. The photos are printed in the darkroom by the artist and selenium toned for archival quality. The series are printed digitally and hand-bound into small books.

Prices:

Framed 11 x 14" prints (frames are 16 x 20") - $200

Unframed, drymounted 11 x 14" prints - $160

Unframed, drymounted 5 x 7" prints - $60

Books- $20

The artist can be reached at sarah@sarahhaney.com. Click here to email.