Michael Paul Smith

As you all should know by now, I'm fascinated by art that's a little out of the ordinary. I love when an artist uses a new technique or medium to bring something completely new into the world. When it comes to Michael Paul Smith's imagery, it's all about technique. What looks like a simple photograph found in an old photo album or attic, suddenly becomes so much more.
Here are a couple of examples of Smith's photography. I love the nostalgic feel of the photos. They are exactly like images my parents had of their houses growing up. The 1950s cars and the old fashioned storefronts that we simply don't see anymore.
Each images is like a little piece of history. But it's a history that didn't exist. What you are looking at are models. Elaborate and beautiful little models. Smith has created little scenes that he then takes out into the real world to photograph.

The trees and the power lines behind the house above are real, everything else is just a model, as is shown below.

Below is a great example of how those models are built. Smith offers insight into how he creates his images on his Flickr page. He mixes the model world with the real one very effectively to create something of a distortion. There are a number of images on his Flickr page that somehow include live actors (usually himself) inside his model. It is a fantastic trick of the eye that makes me wish I spent more time taking pictures. Smith creates his own little worlds and I'm awfully glad he does. Interesting work.

As is typical lately I found this artist through Lines and Colors which has rapidly become my favorite site for art. I am constantly inspired by the artists that the blogger (Charley Parker) writes about. There was also a nice collection of Smith's work on Beautiful Life, a website that I'm going to have to check out further.

The artist with his models.