Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain (or in this case—camera)

I have been photographing R. John Wright Dolls for a few years now, and I’m always amazed at the level of intricate detail that their dolls entail—each one painstakingly hand-made and painted in their factory right here in Bennington, Vermont. I sometimes shoot at their factory, but mostly here in the studio and John’s wife Susan has the un-enviable task of trying to get them to pose just right without falling over, yet looking animated. We hem and haw about each shot while the hi-res camera sensor shows every flaw in glaring detail under the lights, so we fidget and fuss over each shot. I’ve started photographing them on set and wanted to show a few shots from our most recent session which included the newest and final member, the Cowardly Lion. This past December’s issue of Dolls magazine featured the shot of Dorothy with the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and of course Toto.

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