'I married a right dummy': Woman travels the world with mannequin 'family' after her mother complained about her failure to settle down

Suzanne Heintz, 42, has been photographing imaginary life with mannequin husband and child for 14 years

Single American artist grew up in Mormon Church which 'glorified role of women as mother and homemaker'

Wants people to open minds and 'quit clinging to outdated assumptions of what a successful life looks like'




Many people will know the familiar nag of 'when are you going to find yourself a nice partner and settle down?' but most would simply shrug it off. One woman however grew so tired of being pestered about settling down that 14 years ago she decided to fabricate her own family.

Suzanne Heintz has been photographing her imaginary life with mannequin husband and mannequin child - from proposal, to wedding, to family holidays - ever since.

The American photographer, 42, presents her work in a funny, thought-provoking and undoubtedly challenging picture series called The Playing House Project: Life Once Removed.

Scroll down for video

American conceptual photographer Suzanne Heintz feigns surprise at a proposal to 'renew vows'

Suzanne was tired of the pressure to conform to expectations for a 'woman her age to have a ring on her finger'. She was sick of people's unrealistic expectations from herself and from life in general - but in particular that of women and marriage.

'People said: "You're such a nice girl, why aren't you married?" she writes.

'No one actually used that out of date word, but, what they were driving at was that I was a "Spinster", and I got tired of hearing about it. Even my Mother must have thought she was setting me straight when she said: "Suzy, there's nobody perfect out there. You just need to PICK somebody, if you're going to settle down"

'I snapped back, 'Mom! It's not like I can go out and BUY a family! I can't just MAKE it happen!" But then, I found a way. I bought a beautiful family… of mannequins. I decided to start a photo project out of the Kodak Moments I'd capture with my new Store-Bought Family.'

Suzanne gets up after sleeping in on a lazy Sunday morning, beside her imitation husband as part of her 14 year self-portrait photo series

Suzanne enjoys a French breakfast at Cafe Constant with her imitation husband while on holiday (l) and in front of the Eiffel Tower, with her imitation family



Suzanne was raised in the Mormon Church in New York, which made a lasting impression. It provided her first experience in the idealisation of family, and the glorification of the role of women as mother and homemaker.

These influences have come together in shaping the focus of her subject matter. The external pressures of culture, and the internal pressures she placed on herself to fit into the expectations of that culture, built up over time, until she decided to do something about it.



'I'm simpl y trying to get people to quit clinging to outdated assumptions of what a successful life looks like , lighten up, and embrace their lives for who it's made them, with or without the Mrs '



The artist employs satire and importantly humour in her work, because she feels that it is crucial to the digestion of what might be perceived as a 'bitter pill of social criticism'.

'My own home was the backdrop for the first images,' she explains.

'Over the next decade, scenes of an idyllic home life eventually extended into a series of holiday greetings, as a satirical response to annual family photo cards. However, the project took a turn after taking them on a road trip. I saw the potential in shooting in public.

'Seeing me work with the mannequins is such a peculiar and funny thing to witness, that people are immediately disarmed. As soon as that happens, their mind is open and impressionable.



'Using humor, paired with shock, allows my message to penetrate, and the work can have greater impact. The aim is to get people to reconsider their stubborn allegiance to traditional life expectations.'

Suzanne poses with her imitation husband for a mock wedding portrait outside of a local Chapel

'The term perfect is no longer used to describe what we're all striving to be. Now it is called fulfilled,' she says.



'But for women, the path to fulfillment is not through one thing, it's through all things; education, career, home, family, accomplishment, enlightenment. If any one of those things is left out, it's often perceived that there's something wrong with your life.



'We are somehow never enough, just as we are. Even if we do have a finger in each of those pies, there is never enough time to do any of them to our satisfaction. We are constantly set up by our expectations to feel as though we are missing something.

'I thought it was high time to call this nonsense out publicly, because this notion of insufficiency is not just about me, nor exclusively about women in regards to marriage. It's about anyone whose life doesn't look the way it "should".



'Rarely does anyone's life turn out the way it was expected, and if by some miracle it does, what they expected isn't what they thought it was.



'I'm simply trying to get people to open up their minds, and quit clinging to outdated assumptions of what a successful life looks like. I want people to lighten up on each other, and themselves, and embrace their lives for who it's made them, with or without the Mrs., PhD. or Esq. attached to your name.'

In a moment of crisis Suzanne reunites with her imitation family for their annual holiday photo, after a trial separation in Paris