Tourmaline .

Miniature Diorama Photographer

Posts from the ‘New Photography’ category

The world is ending, or maybe it’s not. 

I just got married 5 days ago. A couple people asked if the wedding was still on. We’d been planning it for a year and 2 months, paid all the vendors, arranged everything. Of course it was still on. It was definitely a gathering of more than 10 people and we all sat next to each other to eat, we hugged good bye. Nothing was shutting down yet though 5 days ago. No one was telling us not to gather, at least not telling us loudly enough. I will say, while bittersweet, it’s probably for the best no grandparents were able to come to the wedding.

We’ve both had this week off for our honeymoon. We spent a bit more time with family Sunday, returned all the rentals Monday, went to historic St. Augustine Tuesday. Read more

A Personal Connection to a Toy

On the heels of my ‘Own What You Do‘ post, it only seems appropriate to talk about my bonds formed with photo props (in this case toys).

Each of my pieces is in some way a self portrait, feelings vomited onto the page (or maybe the camera sensor, the miniature scene, however you want to see it.) The items I use to create those moments, especially the ones I use over and over, come to hold a very high importance.

My dining room is my art studio, and by art studio I mean 2 tables, one with 2 dollhouses, the other with a pop up table top photo studio. Underneath is storage, mostly contained in plastic drawers, but some being larger parked toy pieces. Now, picture a small child coming into that space. Are they going to see it as a hands-off artistic space? Absolutely not. It’s a toy room…

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Tourmaline . toy photograph of Wild West David Levinthal Smithsonian Diorama - 4 horses running with horse drawn carriage in background

Miniature Photography from David Levinthal’s Diorama

As you may well know, my sister and I went to the opening of the David Levinthal exhibit at the Smithsonian in DC.

A very cool feature of that exhibit, is that one of David Levinthal’s dioramas is on display. To my understanding, Levinthal commissions custom pieces for him to then assemble to the needs of the photographs he envisions. While behind glass, and with only a 50mm lens at my disposal, I managed to capture a few interesting shots of the piece and I wanted to share those with you here.

These pieces are roughly 1:32 scale, meaning the adult figures are about 2 1/4″ (5.72 cm) tall and very intricately detailed.

Figure sitting on balcony reading, robot approaching, toy photography by Tourmaline .

Monochrome | Polychrome the book is here!

I published an art book of my Monochrome | Polychrome series!

A book filled with miniature diorama photography, but it’s so much more than that.

A self portrait, a found identity, a tailored self.

This book is the culmination of over a years worth of photos, planning, painting and soul searching, presented here as my full vision. It includes 84 images (65 from Monochrome, 15 from Polychrome, and 4 that serve as transitions between the 2 halves of the series), as well as full dollhouse images and accessory pages with the accessories printed to scale. There are also info pages on me as an artist and the 2 series halves as well as behind the scenes images. The book can be “read” either forward or backward.

Get either a soft cover travel edition or a hard cover coffee table edition.

Get yours here today: https://www.blurb.com/user/tourmalineno

Make sure to use code SUMMERSAVINGS3RT for 30% off your order.

 

Alpaca facing camera

Alpaca Friends

2 weeks ago I got to visit my sister and her husband in Charlottesville, VA. While there, we hung out with her friend’s alpacas, and they were wonderful. Here are some pictures of the occasion. Hope you enjoy.

Me feeding one of the alpacas. Photo by my sister Leah Wise, stylewise-blog.com.

figure turns on TV, toy photography by Tourmaline .

Monochrome | Polychrome – An Emotive take on Toy Photography

Tourmaline .

Miniatures serve as iconographic objects. Not real people, places or things, but simplistic versions of such. This allows for abstracted views of reality. The perfect medium for creating visual representations of memories and emotions – abstractions of reality within themselves.

Tourmaline . creates emotive imagery by transforming miniature tableaus through her camera lens. Her images draw influence from her midwestern roots and Florida youth.

Tourmaline . graduated from the University of North Florida in the Spring of 2013 with a Bachelors of Fine Art, concentration in Photography, and minors in Art History and Professional Education. She resides in Jacksonville, FL with her fiancé and cat.

Monochrome

Suspend your assumptions. There can be a life well lived inside your comfort zone. She has carved a den of contentment. Everything tailored directly to her truest
self.

As with the majority of my work, these are self portraits, a found identity, a tailored self.

The setting within Monochrome is 1:12 dollhouse scale where 1 inch is equivalent to 1 foot. Meaning, the figure in these photographs is just over 5 inches tall. The figure is a plastic drawing model. Once I had her in my possession I sourced furniture and accessories to create her world. I painted everything a matching tone of grey to that of her plastic. I had the house built for her prior to her arrival.

The 65 images in this series were taken with 1 to 2 studio lights, aiming for a relatively even, but consistent with home interior lighting, feel. Each was photographed horizontally and at a singular aperture. All this to say, balance in focus, lighting, color tone and composition was created intentionally.

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Shopkins Mini Packs

Tiny Products

Miniature versions of everyday grocery packaging are all the rage!

I’m a product photographer by day, and a miniature diorama photographer on nights and weekends. I largely photograph grocery store packaging. So when I see tiny versions of the products I handle all day, I’m so hooked. I’m not the only one though it appears.

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