Before digital platforms made putting songs together in playlists a breeze, many of us (of a certain age, perhaps) remember spending hours at a time carefully curating sets of songs and then recording them onto cassettes and passing them along to friends and loved ones. Ah, the classic mixtape—and the inspiration for the latest toy photography challenge. 

In this episode of the Toy Photographer’s Podcast, Sabrina (@theperrylegoadventures) and Shelly (@shellycorbettphotography) break down September’s community challenge: using music and song lyrics to inspire toy photography (#tp_mixtape). What started out as an idea and a pitch to the toy photographers community from Sabrina, led to an incredible month of inspiring photos paired with music spanning decades and genres. More than 180 photos were tagged with #tp_mixtape!

As Sabrina and Shelly discuss the intersection of music and creativity, the patterns they saw and the surprises throughout the challenge, you’ll find yourself thinking up even more song-inspired ideas! Music has the power to connect, to inspire, and to tell a story, so it’s no wonder it served as a powerful jumping-off point for toy photographers. And perhaps now, after listening to the episode and viewing some of the photos, you’ll be inspired long after the challenge has ended. You may even, as Shelly and Sabrina mused, start listening to music differently now, knowing the potential for creativity! 

Late Nights In My Car - theperrylegoadventures
Late Nights In My Car – theperrylegoadventures

Whether you participated in the #tp_mixtape challenge or are now inspired to see what you come up with in the future, get those creative juices flowing with the perfect soundtrack: a compilation of all the songs that inspired the photos. You can check out the playlist, our very own mixtape for the #tp_mixtape challenge, on Spotify:

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Did you participate in the challenge? What song(s) would you like to capture through toy photography in the future? Leave a comment below or join our communities on MeWe, Facebook, or Instagram!