Based on my original series of randomly selected words, I chose to work around the theme of Emperor Norton while maintaining a similar aesthetic for the other two prints. For those, I drew upon the popular mythology of San Francisco surrounding Norton's reign as emperor. One is based upon a specific incident in which Norton was said to have prevented an anti-Chinese riot by placing himself between the rioters and their Chinese targets, and reciting the Lord's Prayer until the mob dissipated (thus, the inclusion of the Chinese text overlay, which is in fact the Lord's Prayer.) The other images included in this print are drawn from a period photograph from Chinatown in San Francisco, and landscape and art nouveau elements similar to those in the first print.
For the third print, I focused on Bummer and Lazarus, San Francisco celebrities of the period in their own right -- much-beloved rat-catching dogs often said to belong to Norton (who, however, staunchly denied this, though as lovingly as his fellow San Franciscans in regarding the dogs as their own autonomous individuals.) The overlay of this piece is drawn from a comic of the time depicting Lazarus' funeral, attended by other local celebrities.
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