Empathy Test

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About Empathy Test

Named for the test in the film Blade Runner, a movie where the artificial people are more expressive and, perhaps, more human than the actual "real" people in the film, this is a group for photos of artificial people, the more expressive and empathetic, the better. Meaning, you can post something without a head or a face but it had better be pretty expressive so elicit some kind of empathy. If it's just a clothes hanger, well...

What is an "artificial person"? For this group an artificial person must exist in real 3 dimensional space (not CGI), must be shaped like a person (statues, mannequins, lawn gnomes, animatronic Presidents and pirates, etc..as long as it has a face, looks more or less human and was designed to represent humanity.) and the photo must be one you've taken. 2 dimensional billboards and drawings don't count. The more of the artificial person's expressiveness you can convey either with their emotions or your own (as the photographer), the better.

No real people unless accompanied by a fake person. Just to be clear, "fake folk" or "fake people" doesn't mean someone with honesty issues, politicians or people with surgical enhancements: we're talking about inanimate (or mechanical) objects designed in the shape of people (more or less). Not real people in masks, not boots, shoes, foot prints, gloves or articles of clothing. Not pictures of people, not paintings. Statues, action figures, mannequins, etc.... Feel free to explore the theme but please don't try to push the boundaries to see what will or won't be accepted.

I don't want to have to approve images and I hate deleting them so please don't post things you know don't fit the group. If I deleted your image, it's because it didn't fit. Please don't repost or argue with me, just post something that does fit. Thanks.

Fake people can be any size that you can photograph. Again, emphasis on the expressiveness. If it's designed to elicit an empathic response or is shaped like a person, we want it! Find the emotion in that fake, soulless, emotionless figure. After all, we've been making fake people in one form or another since before recorded history. We make them and we respond to them and yet they are not real. Why do we do it? Is it to see ourselves reflected? Or do the fake folks we make,live out our fantasies? From a child's doll to a marble sculpture, mannequins and more, we explore our own humanity, consciously, or unconsciously, through them.

5 post per day maximum. Don't care if you shoot digital or film. Your gear does not matter as much as your eye. Since many statues are nude and statues are the original fake people, tasteful nudity (of fake people) is allowed.