By Sandy Quadros Bowles

Editor

We see the traffic signs daily. Stop. Detour. Strictly Enforced. No Parking.

But an exhibit recently featured at the Morse Institute Library showcased the images in a very different, and completely thought-provoking, way.

The display, which filled a wall of the library, showcased images of stylishly dressed models. But their heads are replaced by familiar traffic signs.

“Story Telling Through Street Signs & Fashion, presented by photographer Chelsea Bradway and fashion stylist Brooke Kanal, has as many interpretations as there are viewers, Kanal said.

Slow, for example, might be a reminder to take a breath in a busy life. 

Detour might mean “I’m taking my own path, I’m finding my own way,’’ she said.

Stop, with its universal red color reflecting urgency, could be a way to say “stop, don’t touch me.’’ 

This could be “creating boundaries’’ for girls and women to tell others to respect them and their words.

The exhibit was inspired when Bradway’s daughter randomly held a sign over her head while working in a gallery.

That gave Kanal and Bradway an idea.

“We said, We should do a [display] for women, give them a voice.’’

Bradway decided to photograph images of women with signs replacing their faces to put the focus not on the model but on the words she was holding.

Kanal, a fashion stylist by trade, chose outfits she hoped would catch people’s eye and correspond to the sign’s message.

The exhibit features models from New England Models Group in Manchester, N.H. Models also included Badway’s daughter Miley Charlette Francis, Kanal’s daughter Sadhya Kanal, and her niece:  Livee Gillin.  

Kanal is proud of the reaction the work has received. After a showing at a local high school, a range of responses came in.

“The exhibit/photos make your mind think about what each sign could possibly be… you can look at a sign three or four  times, and each time have a different idea about what it means,’’ one student wrote.

 “It was really cool and nothing like anything I’ve seen before,’’ another student opined.

Those reactions hearten Kanal because they reflect a message she and Bradway are trying to share.

The signs, their exhibit shows, might be everywhere. But the message can be powerful and something a viewer may not have considered before.