I found this the other day and have to share it – it is one of the simplest and best examples of storytelling I’ve seen recently. It works really well because it is so intuitive.
I’ve seen plenty of pictures of little figures in unusual settings, it is a form that really appeals to me. The idea of small figures in a human sized world opens up all sorts of ways to play with perspective, which I love. I have my own tumblr on this theme that I simply don’t update often enough. Tatsuya Tanaka’s work (pictured below) is in a different league though, and I’ll explain why.
The BEST stories allow the audience to make a connection between two disparate ideas and, in doing so, illuminate each unexpectedly. There is a richness in allowing the audience to come to their own conclusions and an intellectual delight in having your world view gently shifted.
The common theme in Tanaka’s images is taking the form of a ‘normal’ sized object to suggest something totally other in the miniature landscape he creates. Here the linear stripe pattern in the edge of glossy magazines magically suggests driving rain when titled to 45 degrees. Oh, and a tiny person and umbrella in shot completes the transformation.