Mike Stimpson
Mike Stimpson is a UK-based photographer who works primarily with LEGO. His works range in tone from comedic to more serious, the latter mainly consisting of a particular series he did, in which he recreated some of history's most famous photographs using LEGO toys.
In this photograph, Stimpson has re-created the famous 'lunch atop a skyscraper' image of workers eating lunch atop the Empire State building construction using LEGO toys. Given the nature of the image itself, this image has quite a fun atmosphere to it, given the absurdity of the lego figures in terms of general appearance and their universal smiles.
This is one of Stimpson's darker works; a re-creation of the famous image of a buddhist monk lighting himself on fire in protest. Perhaps the most disturbing element, more so than just the simple juxtaposition of innocence and horror, is the fact that the monk figurine is smiling in the photo. Had he wished, Stimpson could just have used a different LEGO head; this was a conscious choice. Stimpson has also included an oil can in the same spot as the gasoline can in the photo; the type of can in the photo might not be available as a LEGO brick. He has laid out the LEGO flames at an angle, to accurately represent how the flames are blown by the wind in the actual image. Stimpson's shallow depth-of-field ensures that despite the busy background, we are not distracted from the monk, who is the most important part of the image.
In another dark piece which combines a strange sense of humour with a chilling event, Stimpson has re-created a famous photograph by Eddie Adams of a man seconds before his execution during the Vietnam War. Again, the figures' smiles make the image all the more disturbing; they completely subvert the atmosphere of the original image. Stimpson's shallow depth of field keeps the viewer's attention on the most important parts of the image, as well as highlighting how small the figures actually are; another point which adds to the strange juxtaposition between horror and innocence found in these images.
In this image, Stimpson has re-created the famous 'falling soldier' image by Robert Capa. Despite allegations of being a staged, the image depicts in some capacity the death of a soldier, and representing this in LEGO once again brings a strange and unsettling juxtaposition. Once again, the figure is smiling, making the image all the more unsettling.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Stimpson's work, in my opinion, is the contradicting emotions in the photographs; people are depicted smiling in many horrific scenarios, and I feel that it may benefit me to incorporate a similar element into some of my own work.