Doesn’t this rooster look mean?
…Sorry, this is a human’s interpretation of an animal’s facial expression. Of course I have no idea what’s going on in his head. But he is certainly eyeballing the viewer. You have to admit he is an absolutely gorgeous creature.
A lot of things put us off at at first sight, but when we look again we might discover the beauty in the beast. Unfortunately we have the tendency to make our judgements hastily and move on to the next thing, always worried we could miss out on something important. We skim and skip all day long. Unfortunately this has quite the opposite effect: We miss a lot. Photography is a magnificent tool to stop the world and look again.
I have one friend who doesn’t want to look at my puppets. He finds them disturbing. Fair enough, but he won’t elaborate on what puts him off exactly. I would be so interested. Not everybody has to love them, but I am curious what they trigger in different people.
The stories that go with the puppets are of course reflections of my own experiences with people. Creating the puppets and writing up their traits is very therapeutic. While photography is a discovery of the visible world, making the puppets enables me to explore the non-tangible world, primarily relationships. When I have finished a puppet, I have looked at so many different angles of the same issue. While I still might not like the situation, I will have a better understanding and most importantly I will have kept my sanity in the process. For me they are like voodoo dolls gone peaceful.
dedepuppets 
What an amazing photo. It’s hard to decide whether he is trying to look mean or beautiful!!
Yes you are right. He has a little sadness in his eyes as well, doesn’t he?
I have some family who will not read my poetry/stories because they find it disturbing. It’s my “therapy” so I suppose it could be disturbing…They never will tell me why. They evade my questions. I am not sure what it is sometimes I wish knew, other times I think it is a good thing I do not know because its their issue not mine. I would hate to have that attached to things I have worked through.
This image is wonderful! Maybe he is doing a head bob, saying “Hey, baby” like Elvis or something. He kind of reminds me of Elvis. A grumpy Elvis. Lol! (I still find him beautiful though.)
Now that you mention Elvis, I let you in on a secret. The Pig puppet has Elvis’ eyes, from a photograph shortly before he died. I originally wanted to call the pig Elvis, but then I thought its better not give the puppets names of public personae. It would restrict me of what I can say about them.
And I agree with you, if someone has a problem with your work, it is their problem not yours. Keep up the poetry :).