South Side, Saint Louis, 1992

A drenching from the garden hose, even on a hot day, provides a shock. In this image photographer Anna Kuperberg captures the facial expressions of two children, recently soaked with cold water. Behind them, a third child stands with the hose in hand. The child in the center shouts out, mouth wide open and eyes squeezed shut. On the left, a girl seems to grimace, teeth already chattering. The shirts of both children are clammy and wet, and cling to their bodies. Kuperberg finds willing subjects among the working-class children who live in the South Side of St. Louis and spend much time playing outdoors. The diversity of races depicted in this photograph reflects the demographics of this neighborhood.