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Chicago circa 1917. "Rest period, Elizabeth McCormick Open Air School No. 2, on roof of Hull House boys club." Or, possibly, naptime on the set of "The Seventh Seal." View full size.
The Open Air movement, which started in 1908 and ran through the 1930s, provided for the education of children with tuberculosis while at the same time crusading against "ventilating systems which do not ventilate." The movement (one subcategory of which was the "open window school") reflected a prevailing belief in the therapeutic powers of fresh air. Gelatin silver print by Burke-Atwell.
I love this disturbing photo so much, I can't stop studying it. My favorite slumberer is the one in the foreground, snoozing soundly and, I believe, warmly. Delicious nappy time, spectacular dark-undercurrent tableau.
Is that snow on the tree next to the "sentinel"? Poor kids must be freezing their butts off.
Dave certainly called it. And revealed what we should have known: that Death has no gender.
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