Jeff Kern design for "Bobo the Clown Doll"

Bobo the Clown Doll

In 1961, Stanford psychology professor, Albert Bandura conducted an experiment where small children observed adults punching, kicking, and assaulting a blow-up doll named Bobo. The experiment proved that children learned aggressive behavior from this exposure. I had taken this sinister-feeling photograph at a toy museum some time earlier and felt it captured this dark mood. Though careful angular juxtaposition was used to frame the image, it was a photo found purely by wandering around with a camera—not constructed, or designed in service to a concept. Serendipitous? Also, this could be an album cover. I’m looking at you Marilyn Manson.