It’s time for another themed episode of the Toy Photographers Podcast! This month, Kristina and I chose the theme “Power,” and came up with two completely different interpretations.
The episode is live now on the various podcast apps around the interwebs, or you can listen right here on this post. You can follow along with the episode by checking out our photos – and a few guest submissions for both the “Power” theme and last month’s “Feelings” theme – below!
My Image
Knowledge is Power
For my image, I was inspired by the February’s literature-themed Google+ challenge. I wanted to convey the power of knowledge and literature. The composition of my shot was inspired by this iconic 1980s high fidelity tape ad from Maxell, commonly known as “Blown Away Guy.” It was conceived by Art Director Lars Anderson, first appeared as a two-page spread in Rolling Stone Magazine in 1980, and was made into TV spots in 1981. It’s been parodied, replicated, and updated countless times in the decades since, and I was happy to finally put my own spin on it.
Though they’re quite different in style and tone, the Maxell ad reminded Kristina of haunting portraits from Gregory Crewdson. In the episode she specifically mentions this image of an old man completely sucked in by a television off-screen:
by Gregory Crewdson
Kristina’s Image
For Kristina, the power theme made her think of a power struggle, which she communicated through this Sisyphus-inspired image of Princess Leia and Darth Vader and their ongoing Light Side vs. Dark Side power struggle.
Listener Entries
We received several great listener submissions this month, for both the Feelings and Power themes. Thanks to @ardavis1174, @Stormtrooper_Pete and Shelly Corbett for their entries! We had fun discussing our thoughts about each one on the podcast.
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- Feelings by ardavis1174
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- Power by Shelly Corbett
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- Hera and Kanan by Stormtrooper_Pete
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- Hera and Kanan by Stormtrooper_Pete
We absolutely love seeing guest interpretations, and encourage you to do the same! If you’re inspired to take your own “Power” images, or an image for our next theme, “Together,” make sure to use the hashtags #tp_power or #tp_together and tag both myself (@thereeljames23 on Instagram) and Kristina (@kalexanderson on Instagram) to make sure we see them! You can also email them directly to us at toyphotographypod@gmail.com. We’ll discuss any entries on our next theme episode, which will air on Sunday, April 8th.
-James
What does the word “Power” make you think of? Join in on the conversation by leaving your thoughts in the comments below!
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Straight off I think that ‘power’ means ‘strength’ and I see that reflected in the three images in the post (and Shelly’s image too). However, the ridiculous soon kicks in and I think of the meme that appropriates the concept of a few political quotes, and states: ‘with great power comes great responsibility’. Good one Uncle Ben; it’s the best line in the Spiderman movie.