ToddleWood Takes a Pint-Sized Look at Hollywood Glamour

Anyway who reads our blog knows we’re far more likely to write about adorable monkeys or pug dogs than we are about kids. But we were struck recently by a rug rat-centric project that really struck a chord with our love of pop culture.

ToddleWood is the brainchild of photographer and former advertising executive Tricia Messeroux. She goes to great lengths to recreate tot-sized versions of some of Hollywood’s most glamorous red carpet moments. 

The whole idea started back in 2008, after Tricia had been told that her three-year-old daughter looked like Diana Ross. She soon turned to friends who knew about styling, make-up and hair to help her make the perfect mini-homages to some of the world’s biggest stars.

Where's Momo? Andrew Knapp and His Dog Photos

Photos courtesy of Andrew Knapp

Every now and then we come across some photos that really grab us. They usually have something to do with animals — especially monkeys and dogs. This week we discovered Andrew Knapp and his border collie Momo, doing a kind of live action Where's Waldo. Andrew has taken a collection of over 150 images, and counting, of his furry friend hiding in each frame. We talked to Andrew about Momo, the images and maybe a book in the future.

The idea for the photos came from Momo. Andrews said, "Momo did it! He runs and hides when I'm about to throw a stick. Sometimes I can't see where he's hiding." And so the series was born. If Andrew can't see Momo, maybe the viewer can. Either way it certainly makes a fun game for everyone.

Momo is completely cooperative and needs no coercing to take part in the photo shoots. Andrew noted, "He's really responsive. We communicate quite well. I can actually stand 30 feet away from him and tell him, 'Lay down,' and he'll lay down. And then, 'No wait, sit up,' and he'll sit up. Helps me get the right photo.

And what does Momo get in return for his laborious glamour shots? "I reward him with 'G'boys!' and head pats… he loves it!" He continued, "I try not to treat train him because I don't want him to be a beggar. I give him treats for no reason and give him head and belly rubs as rewards. He's a very happy dog."

The graphic designer from Northern Ontario, Canada, has had Momo since he was a puppy, and they go on lots of walks and drives together. But the Andrew doesn't plan out the settings for the images. He explained, "I try not to look for them. I just go on adventures with him every day and they pop up right in front of me!"

The photographer has turned the images into a 7x7, 62-page book for his family and is looking in to options for publishing it, so keep an eye out at your favorite book site. In the meantime Andrew, who is a graphic designer by trade also takes other kinds of pictures. He remarked, "I love photography. Sometimes I'll pick up my camera and not put it down for months. Right now is not one of those times. It'll happen again soon, I can feel it. The iPhone will do the trick for now."

He also revealed he does other artwork as well, joking that he does "illustration, design, interpretive dance (no, not really… well… maybe once or twice at a good party)." Check out his site to see his other artwork including great portraiture, travel pics and illustrations. We got lost for hours in his images.

We left Andrew with one last Passionistas question. What are you most passionate about? He replied, "People, culture, cities, communities, living easy. Being happy with your current situation, no matter what that is." Wise words to live by.

Cam you find Momo is tall these pics below and the one above?

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Carli Davidson Photographs Animals Like Never Before

Old Friends Reunite for the Five Year Photos Project

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Old Friends Reunite for the Five Year Photos Project

 All photos courtesy of John Wardlaw

We all have those photos of ourselves in our heyday — carefree teenagers, hanging with our very best friends on a summer vacation. But these five guys turned a sunny snapshot into a lifelong project. 

John “Wedge” Wardlaw, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney, John “Belves” Molony and John “J.D.” Dickson took their first “official” photo together in 1982. Wedge’s family had a cabin on Copco Lake in northern California, and the buddies decided to grab a still to capture the moment in time. They never intended to turn it into a lifelong photo-essay. But that’s what it became.

The gang sat on a railing, while Belves clutches a Folgers Instant Coffee jar housing their pet cockroach. Mark has a bucket hat slung over his knee. They all rock “I’m too cool for this” teen snarls. And that was that. In a recent exclusive interview Wardlaw explained that they had no intention of posing that way in the future, saying, “We didn't even know all of us would make the trip together again.”

Carli Davidson Photographs Animals Like Never Before

Photo by Carli Davidson

There's a collection of photos making its way around the Internet lately. At first they seem slightly grotesque, until you realize what they are. Carli Davidson's images are are those of animals mid-shake. That she even caught these high-speed, typically invisible, moments is extraordinary, but the shots are beautiful works of art and highly entertaining.

The "Shake" Collection makes up just a small portion of Carli's portfolio. An experienced animal trainer, her website is full of images of all kinds of animals, and not just in motion. As a freelance photographer for the Oregon Zoo some of her subjects include porcupines, owls, elephants and snakes. She also has a series on pets with disabilities and another called Pride Northwest, featuring members of the LGBT community and their four-legged friends.

At the very least be sure to visit her site and check out the images online, but we're betting you'll have a hard time resisting the opportunity to own one of Carli's images for yourself. For just $35-50 you can buy an 10 x 14 print all your own and 10% of all proceeds goes to her selected charity of the month. Right now it's Best Friends Animal Society hoping to stop the epidemic of homeless animals.

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So Many Reasons to Love Henry Winkler

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Awesome People Hanging Out Together

 

A lot of people assume that all famous stars know each other — that it's like one big club they all belong to and anytime they see each other they all act like old friends. But truth be told this is not the case. In our travels we often see people at red carpet events introducing themselves to another actor or being star struck by a fellow celebrity. To us one of the most interesting things is seeing who really does know who and figuring out the connection — a kind of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game we like to play.

So imagine our glee when we found out about a Tumblr blog called "Awesome People Hanging Out Together." The images are of random stars doing exactly what the title implies — hanging out together. Some are odd but self explanatory like Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart cooking on her show. Many are just cool, like Freddie Mercury and Elton John performing together. Others are a little more unexpected such as Anderson Cooper and Elmo.

There's Mick Jagger and James Brown in 1964, Salvador Dali checking out a toy train with Walt Disney, James Dean and Ertha Kitt taking a dance class and Wayne Gretsky chilling in his bathrobe with Gary Coleman. There are classics like Nancy Reagan sitting on Mr. T's lap (he's dressed as Santa, of course) and Elvis with Nixon in the Oval Office.

Still there are the shots that are just plain baffling. For example Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and... wait for it... Ludacris? Or Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein? And we can't for the life of us figure out why Alice Cooper would be hanging out with Colonel Sanders. If you know, please enlighten us.

Anyway we could go on forever listing them for you, but you'll have much more fun exploring them on your own. Be forewarned, you'll get lost in the site for a while. You might want to bring a friend.

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Truth in Advertising: If Movie Posters Got Reel
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Irina Werning Takes Us Back to the Future

As we grow up most of us, thank goodness, evolve dramatically in our appearance, our style and our choice of fashion. Times change, and so do people. But photographer Irina Werning has taken us on a digital time warp.

In her Back to the Future project, she has found portraits of people from the '70s and '80s and recreated them down to every last detail — the clothing, the location, the hairstyle, the accessories, the pose, the tilt of the head and the twinkle in the smile. She's even duplicated the coloration and aging of the photos themselves. It's uncanny really. On her website she wrote, "This project made me realize I'm a bit obsessive."

She also noted that the idea was sparked by her love of old photos, "Most of us are fascinated by their retro look but to me, it’s imagining how people would feel and look like if they were to reenact them today... I decided to actually do this. So, with my camera, I started inviting people to go back to their future."

The project was done in 2010 but it is ongoing. She says she is looking for a few specific poses and locations now. Do you have yourself in the following places? She'd like to recreate you in Los Angeles on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in New York City at the Statue of Liberty or in Times Square, in Paris at the Eiffel Tower or in Berlin at the Wall. Why not take a step back in time with Irina? Or at least, check out the images for a treat.

And while you're there, we highly recommend you also visit the Chini section of her site. The dog is her friend's Chinese Crested (the freakishly cute, hairless variety with the tuft on the top of the head). She was pet sitting Chini for three months and this series of photos was the result of their time together. Irina built tiny sets and costume for the pup, who graciously acted out the scenes. You might not want to ask Irina to look after your pets, but you definitely need to take a gander at the Chini project. Here's Chini in London, in honor of the royal wedding.


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Ikea Homemade is Best

Look around your house. Do you still have that post-college IKEA bookshelf or TV stand? Or are you a full-fledged grown-up? We admit, we’ve got a classic piece or two of the Swedish design house’s work.

What we wish we had in our IKEA collection was their new baking cookbook Hembakat är Bäst (aka Homemade is Best)—a recipe collection that would make the Swedish chef green with envy.

What could be better? The making of the video, which was recently posted online. The Forsman & Bodenfors created the slick tome. Art directors Staffan Lamm and Christoffer Persson obviously worked their magic. And photographers Carl Kleiner and Agent Bauer snapped the iconic shots.

But the real star is stylist Evelina Bratell, who clearly knows how to make food shine.

Of course, we always think bars of chocolate are beautiful but we’ve never seen sticks of butter look like art. Not to mention what she does with hexagons of flour, pyramids of butter, and phalanxes of strawberries.

What’s really cool about the video vs. the cookbook itself, is that you can see the thought process that went into the images. And, as stark as they ultimate result are, some of the strategies behind them are actually quite complex—they seem to require geometry far beyond our 10th grade class taught us.

If you haven’t seen the cookbook, the video ends with a peak at the finished pages.

How do you say Bon Appetit in Swedish?