Label
Label from 2014.Art for Social Change:
In Awaiting, former Washburn art student Jennifer Barr depicts four prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp “awaiting” their ultimate extermination. Upon entry into the camps, the prisoners were stripped of all their belongings, including their clothing. Those who were not immediately executed were given a striped uniform and tattooed with a serial number. Thus each prisoner was dehumanized and robbed of his/her individuality. As both men and women had their heads shaved, it was even difficult to distinguish their genders.
Barr’s treatment of the image emphasizes the prisoners’ disorientation. The chopping off of the figures on either side, as well as the extremely high horizon line in the background, makes the space seem confusing. The figures’ deep-set eyes and the print’s coarse and pitted-looking surface add to the terrifying quality of the image.