Today is a special feature because Mike Stimpson is not only a great photographer but he is also a Lego lover. Combining these two hobbies Mike is able to achieve wonderful pictures. Although he doesn’t shoot only Lego creations, I have decided to share with you today a very special collection of his work “Classics in Lego“. In Classics in Lego is Mike reproduces world most famous images with a high level of fidelity and great care for details. Before leaving you with the wonderful reproductions I will invite you to visit Mike’s gallery at flickr. Disclaimer: All Lego pictures and text are from Mike Stimpson, original images are presented here, in low resolution, just for comparison with the reproduction and their copyright for it is most likely held by their original photographer. A Lego recreation of Jeff Widener’s 1989 photograph of “The unknown rebel”. Original taken from wikipedia A Lego recreation of Joe Rosenthal’s 1945 photograph “Raising the flag on Iwo Jima”.
One of the most published photographs in history. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the Moon in 1969 – Photograph by Neil Armstrong A lego reconstruction of the famous photograph taken by Charles Ebbets Recreation of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s “Behind the Gare Saint Lazare” in Lego Original taken from After Image Gallery A Lego version of Norman Potter’s 1954 photograph of Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile, completing the distance in 3 min 59.4 sec at Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, May 6, 1954. A Lego recreation of Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal during the quarter finals of the 1986 World cup between England and Argentina. A Lego recreation Soviet war photographer Yevgeny Khaldei’s 1945 photograph of the Red Army raising their flag on the German parliment building, the Rechistag, at the end of World War II. A Lego recreation of W. Eugene Smith’s 1946 photograph entitled “The Walk to Paradise Garden”.
Taken of his children entering a forest clearing. Original taken from Masters of Photography A Lego recreation of Steve McCurry’s 1985 Time Magazine cover photograph of Sharbat Gula (previously known simply as “Afghan Girl” before her formal identification in 2002). Original taken from wikipediaRaising the Flag on Iwo Jima, V.J. Day in Times Square, and Lunch Atop a Skyscraper are some of the most iconic images of our time, but now they’re rendered as you’ve never seen them before: in Lego. Mike Stimpson, a 35-year-old British photographer, has spent his career recreating some of the world’s most famous photographs using his favorite childhood toy. His photographs have been published widely in the U.K., and he’s established a large followingCLICK IMAGE TO VIEW MIKE STIMPSON’S LEGO PHOTOGRAPHS AND THEIR CLASSIC INSPIRATIONS It all began several years ago when Stimpson began researching classic images, and then experimented with recreating them in plastic.
Now, Stimpson spends an average of two to three hours assembling each photograph in a tiny, dark room of his West Midlands home.Some of the images he’s chosen to restage are horrifying, others are sad. But rendered in Lego, these iconic pictures—from Robert Capa’s Falling Soldier to Eddie Adams’ execution of a Viet Cong prisoner—become wickedly funny. “My intention with the photographs is mostly to entertain,” Stimpson says. Although Legos are now made with custom-made expressions, Stimpson said he made the decision to stage all of the photos with smiling figures. “Some people find my photos distasteful,” he says, “Some people love it.” Aside from expressions, Stimpson has retained as much of the original image as possible: from the rich black-and-whites of Magnum World War II photography to the eerie lighting in Man on the Moon.As some of these original photos may now be lost on younger viewers, Stimpson hopes his Lego creations will attract attention back to the original work.
“I enjoy the fact that I'm bringing classic photographs and photographers to a new audience through my Lego recreations,” he says. “Hopefully that might get a few more people interested in finding out more about some of the world's great photographers.” Check out Art Beast, for galleries, interviews with artists, and photos from the hottest parties.Isabel Wilkinson is a Daily Beast intern. She has written for New York magazine and Women’s Wear Daily. On February 23, 1945, veteran newspaper journalist Joe Rosenthal captured five United States Marines and one United States Navy Corpsman as they raised the American flag on Iwo Jima island in Japan. His photograph remains one of the best-known images of World War II's Pacific War. As the editors of U.S. Camera Magazine wrote, "In that moment, Rosenthal's camera recorded the soul of a nation." After hearing that the initial flag raised was going to be replaced with a larger one, Rosenthal chose to follow the second team to the top of Mount Suribachi volcano to cover the event.