Slinkachu
The street artist known only as Slinkachu has been abandoning little people on the streets of London since 2006. His first project, ‘Little People in the City’, saw minature men, women and children living their lives on the streets of London and was immortalised in the 2008 book entitled "Little people in the city".Since then, Slinkachu has done a number of other projects, notably ‘Whatever Happened to the Men of Tomorrow’ which documented the decline of a tiny, middle aged and balding super-hero on the streets of London and ‘Inner City Snail – a slow moving street art project’ which saw Slinkachu ‘customising’ a number of London snails which then presumably went about their business none the wiser. So, next time you are out and about in London, look down, for you might be missing out on the drama undolding below.
The street artist known only as Slinkachu has been abandoning little people on the streets of London since 2006. His first project, ‘Little People in the City’, saw minature men, women and children living their lives on the streets of London and was immortalised in the 2008 book entitled "Little people in the city".Since then, Slinkachu has done a number of other projects, notably ‘Whatever Happened to the Men of Tomorrow’ which documented the decline of a tiny, middle aged and balding super-hero on the streets of London and ‘Inner City Snail – a slow moving street art project’ which saw Slinkachu ‘customising’ a number of London snails which then presumably went about their business none the wiser. So, next time you are out and about in London, look down, for you might be missing out on the drama undolding below.
- David Gilliver, 34, works in finance in Guernsey and practices macro photography
- This involves extreme close-up photography, usually of very small subjects
- The size of the subject in the photograph is usually greater than life size
- Gilliver uses tiny figurines intended for model railway sets
Shoot 1
This was my first shoot in the style of Slinkachu. I used 3 mini figures and a ball of blue tack to set up the scene and used a variety of angles and focus points to try and capture a powerful image. Although the story is unclear, both of the characters are constantly staring into the distance which could either be in happiness or depression. If I were to do this shoot again I would use less blue tack so that it isn't visible in the photograph.
Shoot 2
For this shoot I used 3 miniature figures and a ball of blue tack. I also used a plant in the school garden which I stuck the characters to using blue tack. I made it look like the long leaves sprouting from the stem were actually slides, as the mini figures were laying on them in a sliding motion. There is also an elderly women figure standing as she is too old to be using the slide. I used different angles and focus points in the making of this shoot. If I were to try this shoot again I would use a different aperture and use less blue tack.
Shoot 3
For this shoot I used a toy car, a toy speed boat and 3 mini figures. I stuck one of the mini figures on the boat using blue tack and placed it in a puddle to represent the water. Also I place the car and other figures on the pavement, or in this case the shore. I used different focus points to alter between the boat and car. If I were to do this shoot again I would use a lighter aperture to make the water more visible.
Shoot 4
In this shoot I used 4 mini figures, an empty glass, and a ball of blue tack. The picture shows the four figures walking/climbing up the bottle. I did this using the blue tack to stick them to the bottle. I used a variety of different angles and focus points to try and photo every character individually and the bottle itself. If I were to do this shoot again I would use less blue tack and focus specifically on certain parts of the photo's.
Shoot 5
In this Photo I used 2 mini figures, a ball of blue tack and a Gameboy Advance SP provided by myself. The photo shows two characters working together to press the buttons located on opposite sides of the gameboy in order to pay the game. I used different focus points to alternate between focusing on the characters and the console. If I were to do this shoot again I would use less blue tack and use a lower aperture to make the picture a bit darker as you can see my reflection very clearly on the screen of the gameboy.
Shoot 6
In this shoot I used one slinkachu mini figure, 2 small plastic trees, blue tack, a fan and some other props for the background such as rocks and a log. The photoshoot takes the concept of finding a 'lucky' penny, and picking it up will bring good luck. I used litter i found nearby as background props and used blue tack to arrange them in the way I wanted. If I were to re-do this photoshoot I would use less blue tack as you can clearly see it in the picture. Also I would set the focus point and aperture more carefully so that the camera focuses on what I wanted it to.