Child driving a toy car, 1930, Unidentified, Flickr, State Library of Queensland, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Go Ahead, 2025, Andrew R. Codeman, Free Music Archive, is licensed by CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
The image of a young girl in sunglasses, ready to move forward in her toy car, paired with the upbeat synth/dance music evokes a hopeful inevitableness that we’ve all felt in our youth, and also when watching young children as they move through each stage of life. More than this, though, it’s a reminder that we all face a future whose pace of technological expansion increases by the day. We ALL rush forward into an unknown future, whether we like it or not. The music doesn’t stop. Hopefully, we can put on the shades and steady ourselves optimistically with both hands on the wheel, like this young one. Ready, set…..goooooo!
fast forward, 2026, Karen Jesina, with image from the State Library of Queensland, is licensed by CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Hey Karen! Wow, I completely viewed this pairing in a different way than your intention. But it truly makes sense, I have a nephew and niece, whom I’ve been immensely grateful to have been able to watch them grow from birth. Their optimistic view on life as they run straight into new territory and push boundaries really matches the upbeat synth music here. I love the idea of children having a hopeful inevitableness because that’s the truth. Initially I was uncertain if this pairing made sense, but bringing childlike euphemism into it really changes the entire meaning. A cliche soundbite might have been choosing a cartoonish melody or car horns, bringing no additional meaning to the image. This rocks, thank you for evading normalcy and bringing a new light to how we should all view pushing forward into the future.
Hi Karen! This is such a fun pairing of sound and image! Alone, this photo is merely a black and white portrait of a child in a toy car. With the added sound, the photo almost transforms into the whimsical point of view of the child. The music shows how they see the world through the upbeat, fast tempo. I can see the child imagining themselves in the state of the music, fast and upbeat, as they pretend to race in their car. The photo may be otherwise disconnected from an audience, but with the added sound, it makes it fun and relatable, as we all have been childlike and caught up in our imagination.
Hi Karen,
This pairing is very unexpected but I really like it. The image you selected is really cute and the baby pictured seems as though they would greatly enjoy the sound you selected! I enjoyed your interpretation and I appreciated the juxtaposition between this older image and the very modern sound of synth/dance music.