Description
You won't find Elgin Park on a road map, but you'll find it on the web, and now immortalized in the color photos of this book. Michael Paul Smith's Flickr site has received over 20 million hits since he first posted his dreamlike yet convincing photographs of Elgin Park, an imaginary town based on his memories of the small Pennsylvania town of his boyhood. The intricately detailed miniature street scenes of an idealized American small town are populated by model vintage cars, and photographed outdoors to blend seamlessly with natural backgrounds and street scenes, without digital manipulation. The realistic scenes even include complete interiors, all created by hand by Smith, who has background as an architectural model-builder, an illustrator, and a museum display designer. An introduction by Gail Ellison (U. of Florida College of Fine Arts), a long-time colleague of Smith's, explains the photographer's methods and uncovers themes in his art. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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The imagined city of Elgin Park, a magically realistic evocation of a midcentury American town, has captured the hearts of millions of web visitors and now appears in book form. You won't find the town of Elgin Park on a map, but you will find it all over the web and in the media. Called an Internet phenomenon by the New York Times, Michael Paul Smith's Flickr site has received over 20 million hits since he first posted his convincing yet dreamlike photographs of an imaginary town, inspired by the small Pennsylvania one he grew up in. Viewers of all ages from across the world will respond to the memories and feelings evoked by his perfectly executed miniature street scenes with model vintage cars, which are photographed outdoors against actual backgrounds. Without digital manipulation, Smith creates wondrously realistic scenes, which are beautifully reproduced in this exquisite volume. Gail Ellison, a longtime colleague of the artist, explains Smith's ingenious methods and also uncovers the themes of his art.
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