Small Scale Fabricated Photography, Toy Photography History, Art Creation Musings
This previously unpublished post by Tourmaline explores toy photography's origins and significance, reflecting a deep personal connection to the genre. It chronicles the early instances of toy photography, including its ties to history, and discusses the evolution of amateur photography through the Kodak Brownie, emphasizing the art of storytelling with miniatures.
Toy photography, when pursued with dedication, transforms from play into a form of artistic storytelling, creativity, and self-expression. Enthusiastic photographers craft intricate scenes, exploring scale and composition. This evolving genre embraces freedom and collaboration, allowing artists to leave a lasting legacy while celebrating the extraordinary within the ordinary.
Hobby Toy Photography can find it's roots in Kodak's 1929 Picture Contest. From representations of boxing rings, lounging dolls and scenic expanses, toy photography spread as cameras came into the hands of the masses. The only place these images are published on the web.
A bit of a blog summary for all my new visitors.
https://ia800300.us.archive.org/35/items/The_Mascot_Complete/mascot_512kb.mp4 "Starewicz had become a master animator by 1933, incorporating techniques never used before and rarely since (such as moving the puppets during the actual exposure to create blurring for fast movement). His use of rear-screen projection is also surprisingly effective. But more important than these technical details is the great humor of his writing... Continue Reading →
While toy photography is a genre all its own, toys and miniatures in an of themselves are iconographic objects. This has led photographers who don’t always or often use toys in their work, to occasionally pull from the iconography of these objects. László Moholy-Nagy Maholy-Nagy believed art could lead to social transformation. From painting, to... Continue Reading →
Photographers who at least dabbled in photographs of toys, miniatures, figurines and the like, a timeline. Click the names to learn more. Links and Photographer listing will be updated as I find more to add. [Last Updated December 27, 2020] 1898 Albert Smith & James Stuart Blackton 1898 Edward H. Amet 1912 Adolph de Meyer... Continue Reading →
Today, August 2nd, is Doll Day and in realizing this I knew I had an interesting opportunity to talk about Hans Bellmer, an artist I recently came across while researching another post to come. Bellmer was a surrealist photographer in the 1930s. In his work he almost only photographed life-sized dolls he built beginning in... Continue Reading →