In the painting now known as American Gothic, artist Grant Wood was inspired to paint the long faces of his models to mirror the one tall window that he saw on a farmhouse in a small town in Iowa. In this snapshot-style photograph taken by the American expat amateur photographer Ms. Jessica Shanahan, you can see a large snow fort constructed by hand by a brother and sister team. The round faces of the models mirror the one round door to the under-snow home. The photograph represents the joy brought by those things which, like childhood and snow, are ephemeral in nature.
Actually, that part about representation and mirroring and whatnot is all a load of cow poo. Akiva wanted me to take a picture of the snow fort before it melted. I think it’s a rather dull photo, so I had to liven it up with a bit of art criticism— or whatever you call it when someone tries to explain to you what you’re looking at. Plus, their expressions are just SO American Gothic!
