Odessa, Ukraine, August 11, 1993

One of the leading portrait photographers of her generation, Dijkstra’s photographs of children are studies in the self-conscious experience of being photographed. Here, a young boy appears on a generic street, holding everyday objects that nevertheless elicit speculation. He holds two dolls, which, like him, are in a state of partial undress and worn out from intense play.

His unimpressed, even perturbed, expression recall the childhood experience of being interrupted in play to pose for family photos. The austere setting prompts the viewer to contemplate how the child might illustrate a larger critique of their conditions. "With young people, everything is much more on the surface—all the emotions," Dijkstra observed. "When you get older you know how to hide things."