The picture above is from Michael Paul Smith’s past – except the moment it captures never existed. What you are looking at is one of the incredible models with which Michael has brought his memories back to life.
Over to Michael:
“Our past is a powerful draw and in so many ways we try to capture it in order to explain it to ourselves. What started out as an exercise in model building and photography, ended up as a dream-like reconstruction of the town I grew up in. It’s not an exact recreation, but it does capture the mood of my memories.
“And like a dream, many of the buildings show up in different configurations throughout the photos. Or sometimes, the buildings stay put and the backgrounds change.
“No Photoshop was used in these pictures. Its all straight from the camera. It’s the oldest trick in the special effects book: line up a model with an appropriate background and shoot.
“The buildings are 1/24th scale. They are constructed of board, plastic, plus numerous found objects; such as jewelery pieces, finishing washers and printed material.”
Thanks to John Pollock.
Rose-colored glasses. Everything is neater and cleaner than it was. Where are the rusting old cars, for example?