"Clown God" by Eric Rennie

Just in time for Halloween, the photograph above is appearing in juried competitions on opposite coasts: in an exhibition called "The Dark Side" at the 1650 Gallery in Los Angeles and at a show called "Midnight Eerie" at Gallery 136-1/2 in Manchester, CT.  The Los Angeles show, which is curated by gallery owner Andrew Overtoom, opens October 11 and features 60 images.  The Connecticut exhibit, which was curated by Jessica Somers and features work by 27 photographers, runs from October 25-November 25.  Of note to connoisseurs of a certain  age: the clown head is purportedly modeled after Clarabell the Clown, Buffalo Bob's sidekick on The Howdy Doody Show, which ran on NBC from 1947 until 1960.  Clarabell was played by Bob Keeshan, who went on to greater glory as Captain Kangaroo on the kiddie show of the same name.  The 600 lb. clown head is mounted on a motorized track that runs up and down atop a 33-foot brick silo next to Wild Bill's Nostalgia Emporium in Middlertown, CT.  The overall effect is pretty creepy.  I can only imagine what might happen if archeologists of a future epoch unearthed this artifact.  They might assume our civilization worshipped a clown god.

Another of my photographs, entitled Trolley Museum at Night, is also appearing in the 1650 Gallery show.