Pail Handle and Nails (From the Whispered Silences: Japanese Americans and World War II)

Artist Joan Myers (American, born 1944)

Date1984 (printed 1990)

Mediumplatinum- palladium print

DimensionsImage: 9 1/8 × 7 in. (23.2 × 17.8 cm)
Support: 16 7/8 × 12 in. (42.9 × 30.5 cm)
Mat: 20 1/16 × 16 in. (51 × 40.6 cm)

ClassificationsPhotograph

Credit LineGift of Joan Myers, 2017

Object number2017.5.18

DescriptionStill life arrangement in which the metal and wood handle of a pail arches down from the top alongside the edges of the composition, enclosed a scattering of five nails.
eMuseum Notes

Emuseum Notes

Throughout her series Whispered Silences, Myers uses the camera to convey the solemn, isolated landscapes of former Japanese internment camps, highlighting physical ruins and abandoned objects. Her photographs of utilitarian objects carry an emotional poignancy while simultaneously presenting the objects with an archeological importance. The isolation of the objects within the frame implores their careful observation. The details of each object speak to their history while also serving as testimony to the resiliency of human spirit.

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