Matthew Albanese has extremely peculiar pass time, he is actually creating miniature landscapes dramatic scenery that could easily be mistaken for reality. Firstly, you should see the process of creation. He uses very interesting methods to achieve his final goals.
Let’s see what he himself says about his work:
“My work involves the construction of small-scale meticulously detailed models using various materials and objects to create emotive landscapes.
Every aspect from the construction to the lighting of the final model is painstakingly pre-planned using methods which force the viewers perspective when photographed from a specific angle.
Using a mixture of photographic techniques such as scale, depth of field, white balance and lighting I am able to drastically alter the appearance of my materials.
And now, have a look how this miniature landscapes appear at the end, after all of this hard work. Pretty impressive, right? It could easily be mistaken for a real and dramatic scenery.
Tornado made of steel wool, cotton, ground parsley and moss
Paprika Mars. Made out of 12 pounds paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder and charcoal
volcano, "Breaking Point", made out of tile grout, cotton, phosphorous ink. this model volcano was illuminated from within by 6-60 watt light bulbs.
Burning Room, Made of wood, nylon, plexiglass, purchased dollhouse furniture. The model was actually set on fire to achieve this effect.
Sugarland, Made out of 20 pounds of sugar, jello and corn syrup. The crystals were grown in my studio over the course of two months
Fields, After the Storm. This model is simply made out of faux fur(fields), cotton (clouds) and sifted tile grout(mountains). The perspective is forced as in all of my images, and the lighting effect was created by simply shifting the white balance.
Aurora Borealis. This one was made by photographing a beam of colored light against a black curtain to achieve the edge effect. The trees were composited from life ( so far the only real life element in any of these images) The stars are simply strobe light through holes in cork board.
This one is a mixture of many different materials, tile grout, moss, bottle brushes (pine trees) Actual clippings from ground cover and was built on top of standard outdoor patio table (water glass). The sky is canvas painted blue. Coloring was again achieved by shifting white balance.
Mars # 2. Again, Paprika, cinnamon, thyme, chili powder, charcoal, This is the first landscape I ever created.
This was another experimental view of mars. The materials, paprika, cinnamon and chili powder (planet) and coffee and sugar (starfield) were sifted over the floor of my studio. The planet was photographed from 12 feet in the air. Although it looked cool, I abandoned this flat method of modeling because in the end I felt it too illustrative next to all the other landscapes.
"Salt Water Falls" Model made out of glass, plexiglass, tile grout, moss, twigs, salt, painted canvas & dry ice. The waterfall was created from a time exposure of falling table salt
"Cork Board Galaxies" Holes poked in cork board.
