Iconic Photos Re-Created Using Play-Doh

DL Cade

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When Eleanor Macnair made her first Play-Doh re-creation of a famous photo, she had no idea how big her little project would hit it. But only a little over a month after launching a Tumblr to display her work, she’s gotten more publicity than she could have expected.

Macnair started the project as part of a pub quiz organized by MacDonaldStrand — the folks who brought you dot-to-dot drawings of iconic photographs. “One of the rounds was to make an iconic photograph out of Play-Doh,” she tells the BBC, “and so it began.”

From there, the idea evolved into the “Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh” Tumblr and the rest, as they say, is viral history.

Each photo takes about an hour to re-create (depending on how complex it is) and is made entirely out of Play-Doh from the six colors she has at her disposal. At the top we have a Play-Doh version of “Hobo going from Denver to Spokane by freight train,” shot in 1986 by John Vink. Check out more of her best-known re-creations below:

Original photograph: Charles, Vasa, Minnesota 2002 from Sleeping by the Mississippi by Alec Soth
Original photograph: Charles, Vasa, Minnesota 2002 from Sleeping by the Mississippi by Alec Soth
Original Photograph: Untitled from the series Protest, Tokyo, 1969 by Shomei Tomatsu.
Original Photograph: Untitled from the series Protest, Tokyo, 1969 by Shomei Tomatsu.
Original photograph: Abdullahi Mohammed with Gumu, Ogere – Remo, Nigeria, 2007 by Pieter Hugo from The Hyena & Other Men.
Original photograph: Abdullahi Mohammed with Gumu, Ogere – Remo, Nigeria, 2007 by Pieter Hugo from The Hyena & Other Men.
Original photography: Untitled, 1995, from the series ‘Ray’s a laugh’ by Richard Billingham.
Original photography: Untitled, 1995, from the series ‘Ray’s a laugh’ by Richard Billingham.
Original photograph: Child with Toy Hand Grenade, 1962 by Diane Arbus.
Original photograph: Child with Toy Hand Grenade, 1962 by Diane Arbus.
Original photograph: The Walk to Paradise Garden. The Smith children, Patrick and Juanita, 1946 by W. Eugene Smith/Magnum Photos.
Original photograph: The Walk to Paradise Garden. The Smith children, Patrick and Juanita, 1946 by W. Eugene Smith/Magnum Photos.
Original photograph: Iago Study from an Italian, 1867 by Julia Margaret Cameron.
Original photograph: Iago Study from an Italian, 1867 by Julia Margaret Cameron.
Original photograph: Photographer Dennis Stock holds a camera in front of his face (The Photojournalist) by Andreas Feininger for TIME & LIFE pictures.
Original photograph: Photographer Dennis Stock holds a camera in front of his face (The Photojournalist) by Andreas Feininger for TIME & LIFE pictures.
Original photograph: Untitled (Biloxi, Mississippi), 1974 by William Eggleston.
Original photograph: Untitled (Biloxi, Mississippi), 1974 by William Eggleston.
Original photograph: Saul Steinberg in Nose Mask, New York, September 30 1966 by Irving Penn.
Original photograph: Saul Steinberg in Nose Mask, New York, September 30 1966 by Irving Penn.
Original photograph: Priscilla,1969 from the book Almost Grown by Joseph Szabo.
Original photograph: Priscilla,1969 from the book Almost Grown by Joseph Szabo.
Original photograph: Pittsburgh 2004 from A Shimmer of Possibility by Paul Graham.
Original photograph: Pittsburgh 2004 from A Shimmer of Possibility by Paul Graham.

“It is honestly just a bit of fun and I wouldn’t want anyone to take it seriously,” says Macnair. “My hope is that maybe it will introduce a new audience to some of my favorite photographs or re-introduce those who are already familiar with the works, so they start to really look at the photographs again, the content and the context.”

You can find a ton more examples over on her website. So far, she has 29 re-creations up and is thinking she’ll get that number up to 100 and then call it quits. If you have a particular photo in mind that you’d like her to make, you can submit your request here.

Oh, and by the way, if there are any collectors out there who would like to snag one of these re-creations for home, you’re out of luck. “None of the copies exist anymore,” says Macnair. “They are all crumpled back up in their respective pots, waiting for the next time I have a spare hour.”

(via American Photo)

Image credits: Photographs by Eleanor Macnair and used with permission.

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