Somewhere along the way we leave our inner child behind—the one who conjures magical worlds and imaginary friends, who falls in love with princes and princesses, who slays dragons and rides unicorns into the sunset.
MY STORY WITH TOYS
I invite you into those forgotten worlds through my toy-based photography. My photo subjects used to be human. Now they’re two inches tall and made of plastic. (Not only do they have more fun but they behave better, too!) Using various photographic and lighting techniques, props and special lenses, I create dreamy worlds for my tiny subjects.
LEGO and their minifigures have always been a family favorite. Some years ago, between a creative rut and personal challenges, I watched a friend photographing minifigures at one of my adult-only LEGO-building parties.
A lightbulb moment!
I dove into this delightful toy photography world and never looked back. I discovered that we can’t afford to lose our sense of play and wonder. With toys as subjects, I can also explore a range of emotions that often seem out of reach. I hope you experience as much of a sense of joy and wonder with my art as I have making it.
Let’s say connected!
OH THE PLACES YOU GO
My toys take journeys but so do I — Sweden, Australia, the grand opening of LEGO House in Denmark and toy photography meetups around the U.S.
I co-founded BrickCentral on Instagram, the StuckinPlastic blog and the Toy Photographer’s blog. These platforms have shaped today’s toy photography community. I also had the privilege of working with The LEGO Group on social media campaigns, and enjoyed my stint as a LEGO ambassador for fan media groups. Imagine meeting your heroes in the birthplace of LEGO—Billund, Denmark. But I soon realized that my art was calling. The tug of working with toys as a storytelling medium was too strong.
“That step, the heroic first step of the journey, is out of, or over the edge of your boundaries, and it often must be taken before you know that you will be supported.”
—Joseph Campbell