In the 1990s, sculptor Matt McMullen designed a mannequin to give clothing stores something more flexible and attractive than your standard mall dummy.
McMullen, who was documenting his progress on his website, started getting emails from people who weren't looking to use the dolls as retail accessories, but in their personal lives, asking if they were “anatomically correct.”
At the time, they weren’t. But McMullen recognized a growing market of customers and adjusted his mannequins to fit his new customers’ desires. The RealDoll was born.
Today, McMullen’s company, Abyss Creation (NSFW), sells around 400 dolls per year. They're often referred to as "sex dolls," although they are not always used for sex.
Photographer Benita Marcussen recently met with a number of doll owners to understand the strange obsession. She found that doll owners tend to be extremely protective of their dolls, treating them with respect reserved for lovers, friends or cherished possessions.
Marcussen's work was recently featured by Vocativ, but she has shared a number of the photos with us here.
The community of “real doll” enthusiasts is large and growing. DollForum.com, a network connecting aspiring and active doll owners, has over 40,000 users. The users can share experiences and pictures of their dolls or buy and sell new and used dolls.
Source: Doll Forum (NSFW)
Everard, shown here, owns a total of eight bodies, plus four extra faces. He has collected dolls for years. Like many doll owners, he is meticulous about his plastic friends, dressing them up with clothes, accessories, and makeup, and often treating them like “goddesses” and lovers.
Everard likes to take Rebekka and June to his backyard for photo shoots. His neighbors tend to go inside when he brings the dolls out. He has had only one relationship with a real woman and says that he has difficulties understanding them.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider