Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Tiny Tales

I'm in love with the work of photographer Lori Nix. She creates, and then photographs, painstaking miniature dioramas that are usually drenched with a strange sense of foreboding. Abandoned cars in the desert, lightning stiking a tent full of Christian fundamentalists, a giant wave crashes over two tiny life jackets bobbing in the ocean... They remaind me of the dollhouse dioramas of murder cases that were used as teaching tools for forensic science students.

There is something about the construction of these that appeals to the craft nerd in me. When I was a child my grandfather had a huge model railway that took up an entire shed in the back yard. My grandmother and I were in charge of doing all the scenery, as my grandfather was only really interested in the trains themselves. His model trains were all steam trains, not modern locomotives, so we created tiny villages that were stuck somewhere around the 1950's or 60's. I remember lots of fun Saturday afternoons with my grandmother creating tiny corner shops, tree lined streets and flower filled village railway stations. Good times.

Oh, and not a single abandoned car or looming tidal wave in sight.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I once made a very crude castle out of cardboard, that had a working drawbridge. If it would have been as detailed as those diaramas, I believe I would have gone insane and smashed them to bits!

The Other Andrew said...

Cute. I made heaps of models and crap when I was a kid. I always had to have some sort of craft project on the go. Explains my adult Martha Stewart fetish don't you think?

You could have stomped all over your castle like a Japanese monster. Attack of the 50ft Queen!

Anonymous said...

Andrew, I would never ruin something I took so long to build. Talk about crying for days. I am such a perfectionist too. Ugh, what a curse.

Thought you might LOVE this. It is kind of in the same vein as your diarama photos.
http://mapage.noos.fr/minimiam/go.htm

The Other Andrew said...

Duane, I actually found this page the same day I found the other photos... great minds think alike! (Or use the same link sources...)

:-)

I am a major perfectionist when I am making something. I used to do a lot of costuming, some for myself (I used to be a historical re-enacter) and quite a lot for others. I would spend hours/days/weeks painstakingly doing something 'properly' just so I knew it would be perfect. I always enjoyed the process though, as much as the end result.