In this episode of the Toy Photgraphers Podcast I talk surrealism with Sabrina Perry. She’s a philosophy major with [nearly] a double major in art history, so I couldn’t think of a better person to chat with about the intersection of Surrealism and toy photography!
In this podcast, Sabrina and I try to decide if the images we created are surrealist in nature. Besides discussing our shots, we also examine our favorite surrealist photos from our recent MeWe community challenge. I hope you enjoy our conversation and these amazing surrealist-inspired images.
Our images
Community submissions
Do these images inspire you to create your own surrealist image? Do you think Surrealism and toy photography are the perfect match? Can toy photography help us look at the world in a new way? Leave your comments below and join the conversation!
I think the bowler hat guy still plays well, not because he is the everyman but because he is a symbol of propriety and conservatism. To put him in absurd and bizarre situations is to take the proper and conservative and surround it with the odd. This is wonderful because usually the quirky and odd is encased and barred up by the walls of what we portray as our normal selves to the world.
Thank you for choosing my picture! And I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
As always, you’ve seen things in this picture I didn’t see when I was taking it. That’s great!
And even though it doesn’t look like that, I had exactly the same problem as you – I thought too much about the photo. I was surprised because I am not a down-to-earth type and I have always considered myself a very imaginative person. And yet when I tried to free my subconsciousness and take pictures spontaneously, it failed.
And that Magritte painting wit men falling from the sky is called Golconda 😉
Cheers!
oh, and some P.S.
when I was listening to the podcast and watching photos, my daughter was looking too and she asked why the bike has lobster wheels. So I showed her Dali’s lobster phone and then she shouted: hey, I’ve seen this phone in Powerpuff Girls!
We made quick reseacrh and indeed, there was an episode of Powerpuff Girls with reference to lobster phone and Dali himself 🙂
https://fly-pow-bye.tumblr.com/post/163290401727/powerpuff-girls-2016-memory-lane-of-pain
I enjoyed this discussion. But just to contribute to the discussion, I don’t think surrealism is fully about playing. You’re supposed to be in touch with your unconscious and illustrate what that unconscious has within it. This can often be heavy and deep. Sometimes it might be play, but it’s not in its entirety. It all depends on what’s in your unconscious.