I breifly discussed one of Tobias’ images in my Toy Photography as Art post, but I’ve know of his work for at least a few years now and I truly admire the images he makes with miniatures. I knew I wanted to use his work as representation of modern toy photographers making artistic pieces, and in discussing that with him I felt like he needed a seperate post here for his words and pieces to truly shine.
Here’s what he had to say –
Before I took up toy photography, most of my pictures were abstract, and mainly black and white. Beyond abstraction, I’ve always been fascinated by light, as well as stark contrasts. I think this might explain why I feel so attracted to the aesthetics of Film Noir.
I am currently working on a series called Noir Suites, from which I have chosen to show a couple of pictures here. The suites focus on narrative – my vantage point being graphic novels – but the pictures should also speak for themselves independently of their contexts.
People often ask me about the light (or the lack of it), and I do not know a good answer. In a way, I start with darkness and the bring on the light. On one hand, darkness – utter blackness – adds some abstraction to the picture, which is something I do with brightness in my rather abstract work (see, for example, The Berlin Train series or Le città e la memoria), on the other hand, it literally puts the spotlight on the action, creating drama and contrasts at the same time.
The other thing – about inspiration: I try to keep my eyes open. And then I translate what I see into 1/87 scale. So the garage owes as much to real world experience as to watching too many crime movies.
You can find more of his beautiful work here:
Make sure to give him some love in the comments below :)