Iconic images of the 20th century - in Lego
Some people never grow out of their childhood fascinations. But at the age of 33, Mike Stimpson decided it was time to put his to a creative use, combining his long-standing love of Lego with a new-found passion for photography to recreate some of the world’s most iconic images.
Stimpson, a computer programmer from Birmingham, used the well-loved children’s toy to reconstruct scenes from famous photographs, such as Charles C. Ebbet's 1932 "Lunch atop a skyscraper" and Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare."
And although Lego men are endowed with a permanent grin, Stimpson nevertheless put them to work in some of the most horrific images of war from the 20th century.
Shooting them mostly in black and white, he spent hours painstakingly arranging the scenes and experimenting with lighting to ensure he got the right effect. His devotion to detail is apparent in all his recreations, from patterns on clothing to roadmarkings in backdrops.
Stimpson next hopes to recreate Diego Maradona’s notorious “Hand of God” goal against England and soldiers raising the US flag at Iwojima during World War Two.
His photographs are available for sale on redbubble.com.
View his recreations below and then click here to see if you guessed the correct originals.
He's not very good with Lego, regardless of how much time he may have spent lighting it...
Posted by: James | 9 Apr 2008 15:36:57
Not sure why this is considered news...people have been doing this kind of thing for ages and there's even an entire website devoted to recreating the Bible in Lego.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/
Posted by: Carl | 4 Apr 2008 12:32:25
These are brilliant!
The lego man in front of the tank has the bag in the wrong hand (sorry for being a pedant, I don't really care).
Posted by: rickyd | 4 Apr 2008 10:51:05
beautiful
compliment
good
very good
bye
Posted by: | 4 Apr 2008 09:54:02
'Shooting them mostly in black and white, he spent hours painstakingly arranging the scenes and experimenting with lighting to ensure he got the right effect. His devotion to detail is apparent in all his recreations, from patterns on clothing to roadmarkings in backdrops'.
It's Lego and it looks like Lego!
Posted by: Peter Wigglesworth | 4 Apr 2008 09:02:26
Call that devotion? Try this for size:
http://www.henrylim.org/Harpsichord.html
Posted by: Ian Kemmish | 4 Apr 2008 08:13:27
Good Lord - is there no end to bad taste! What is this guy going to come up with next? That photo of the Vietnamese girl running naked along the road after her house was firebombed?
I mean, the idea in itself is cute, but why chose photos that are so full of suffering?
Posted by: D Brett | 4 Apr 2008 05:33:06
Nicely done, but not exactly original, eh?.. (see link)
:)
Posted by: Mike | 4 Apr 2008 02:46:49
It's just a rip off from 'plastic peleton people' - what a cheek.
Posted by: Alex Farr | 4 Apr 2008 01:43:49
Wow...it's really easy to make the news nowdays.
By the way, it took him ours to build 3 tiny lego tanks, put them on a pre-built piece of road and place a lego man qith a breifcase in the wrong hand in front of them?
The guy must be a genius! Let's give him a nobel prize, they gave Al-Gore one...he deserves it much more!
Posted by: Aaron | 3 Apr 2008 22:21:08