Tuesday, 3 July 2012

star wars recreations of famous photographs

a photo series by david eger recreates famous photos and paintings with star wars figurines and handcrafted sets
above: 'troopers raising the flag on iwo jima' (joe rosenthal's 'raising the flag on iwo jima')
all images © david eger
as part of a year-long project '365 days of clones', canadian art teacher david eger has recreated famous photographs and paintings
using star wars figurines. the scenography is done in real life rather than in photoshop, in a project that was eger's response to his
new year's resolution to pursue personal photographic endeavours more often.

eger photographed each piece on a date relevant to the original work: the anniversary of the date the photograph was taken
in the case of most contemporary pieces; or the birth or death dates of the artist for images like his recreations of pablo picasso's
'guernica' or leonardo da vinci's 'vitruvian man'.

'troopers atop a skyscraper' (charles c. ebbets's 'lunchtime atop a skyscraper')

'abbey road' (ilan macmillan's 'abbey road' cover shot of the beatles)

'galactic gothic' (grant wood's 'american gothic')

'B.F. boba fett' (cover of film 'E.T. extra terrestrial'), with yoda in bicycle basket

'migrant trooper' (dorothea lange's 'migrant mother' great depression photograph of florence owens)

'a royal kiss' (recreation of the wedding day first kiss of prince william and catherine middleton at the buckingham palace)

'gandhi' (margaret bourke-white's portrait of gandhi spinning cotton)

'million trooper march' (bob adelman's photograph of martin luther king jr.)

eger's setup for the 'million trooper march' recreation

'the cloned kiss' (alfred eisenstaedt's 'the kiss')

A British photographer's adorable images of puppies, ducklings and even kittens in hammocks will brighten up any rainy day.

Master of cuteness Mark Taylor's images are in demand all over the world for the purr-fect way they capture a softer side to our best-loved animals.

His photographs are a legacy from his late mother Jane Burton who pioneered the style so familiar on calendars in offices and maths teacher classrooms everywhere.

Fosset the kitten with a yellow gosling: Photographer Mark Taylor is famous around the world for his cute shots of animals in unusual poses

Fosset cuddles up to his gosling friend: Mr Taylor's photographs are a legacy from his late mother Jane Burton who pioneered the style

Stanley the kitten with a duckling: Despite the menacing look in Stanley's eyes, Mr Taylor has never had any incidents where one subject ate another

Using a simple clean white background and some unusual animal pairings Mr Taylor's style has seen him make the cover of prestigious wildlife magazine National Geographic.

In this set of heart-warming images Mr Taylor shows why he's one of the best in his field tapping into that desire in us all to see something fluffy.

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From ducklings with puppies, to dogs with kittens and even rabbits Mark captures them all on camera as if they were the best and friends.

And thankfully so far he's had no case of any of them eating each other.

Hear me roar: Kittens Stanley and Fosset have a cuddle

Guess who! Stanley holds his paws over Fosset's face as they play

King of the castle: Stanley climbs on top of Fosset

Not just for Christmas: Stanley and Fosset pose inside a gift box

Touch: Stanley reaches out his paw for a fist bump

Touch on that: Stanley offers his paw for a fist bump. Right, he poses with a bright red flower

Oh you! Stanley gestures towards the camera as he lies in a hammock

Time for a cat nap: Stanley and Fosset enjoy a snooze

Keeping it in the family: Mr Taylor's daughter Siena, pictured with Stanley, helps to pose the animals for her father's photo shoots

Mr Taylor, 47, creates his images all at his home studio Warren Photographic, in Guildford, Surrey.

His father Kim is a world-renowned wildlife photographer. His mother Jane, who died in 2007 after a brave battle against cancer, was one of the first to use a unique style now so well adopted by her son.

Mr Taylor, a father of one, said: 'There have been a few close shaves when we have put the different animals together, but we often "introduce" the animals to a rabbit in a cage first to gauge the reaction.

'If the dog starts licking its lips we know it might not work out well, and for example it's best not to put a Jack Russell next to a rabbit.

'I have helpers in the studio and some of the animals extras we have here, for example we have six rabbits, but others we have to bring in.

'The key to the photograph is making sure the animals are not doing anything they don't want to do because I think you can tell if they are not enjoying themselves.

'My mother was a pioneer if you like of this idea of using the clean white backgrounds and I like to think I am carrying on her legacy.'

You wanna start something? Stanley goes nose to nose with a Bichon Fris

My big mate: Stanley nuzzles up with Great Dane pup Tia

Where u go? Stanley and Tia have a play

Keeping it in the family Mr Taylor's daughter Siena, 10, is also on hand to pose up with the animals in the pictures.

Mr Taylor, who uses a Cannon 1DS Mark III camera, said that he felt his photographs were so popular because they tap into an desire in us all to relate to animals.

He said: 'I think the fascinating aspect of this type of photography is that it taps into something in us all that sees ourselves and human emotions in our pets and other animals.'

Barclays boss Bob Diamond resigns

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond has resigned with immediate effect. The move comes less than a week after the bank was fined a record amount for trying to manipulate inter-bank lending rates. Mr Diamond said he was stepping down because the external pressure on the bank risked "damaging the franchise". Chairman Marcus Agius, who said on Monday he was stepping down, will take over the running of Barclays until a replacement is found. "I am deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events announced last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth," Mr Diamond said in a statement. He will still appear before MPs on the Treasury Committee to answer questions about the Libor affair on Wednesday. "I look forward to fulfilling my obligation to contribute to the Treasury Committee's enquiries related to the settlements that Barclays announced last week without my leadership in question," Mr Diamond said. Last week, regulators in the US and UK fined Barclays £290m ($450m) for attempting to rig Libor and Euribor, the interest rates at which banks lend to each other, which underpin trillions of pounds worth of financial transactions. Staff did this over a number of years, trying to raise them for profit and then, during the financial crisis, lowering them to hide the level to which Barclays was under financial stress. Prime Minister David Cameron has described the rigging of Libor rates as "a scandal". The Serious Fraud Office is also considering whether to bring criminal charges.