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A new little project for twenty one

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Twenty twenty is well behind us. 

We said goodbye to SiPgoesTT in silence, and took a deep dive into our first Winter Workshop. With the Spring Workshop being fully booked in less as twenty four hours.
Yet we never shared with you our new project we have for this year. 

No monthly theme or weekly word has been on the blog in January and February.

So, what happened?

When we looked back in December with the Crew on our last creative challenges we felt there was something missing. The lack of physical contact in twenty twenty for sure added to that and we felt we needed to do something different.
Break the status quo.
Do something that would truly inspire us and be our north star.  

Push our boundaries.
Get out of our comfort zone.
Inspire us.
And make us connect with others.

An individual challenge, and yet a collective effort. 

With the last in person meet up and art exhibition being in Capetown, South Africa almost a year ago . And just a few of us met in person.

Suné, Julien and Boris connecting with the local photography club during the exhibition.

The real big one was Denmark the year before.
An amazing adventure.
A pop up exhibition in the LEGO House.
Amazing friendship.
And lot’s of LEGO.

The last day of SiP goes Denmark. An amazing adventure of friends.

We knew this one was hard to beat.
Yet we needed something different.
Something bigger.
Something different.
To transcent.
Something to work hard towards and to celebrate. 
And to leave an inprint.

Not just a creative challenge to grow ourselves, but work to a true exhibition that would bring us together.
And inspire others.
Like a next level thing. 

And so we brainstormed and looked what would connect us.
What would be realistic (still dreaming of Fotografiska here in Stockholm one day)
Lessons learned from the past that would give us foresight into this project.

The checklist

We knew we wanted a real live exhibition (check)
We knew we wanted to print big
We knew we needed a theme (read on) beyond just being our best works of the latest challenge. A theme that would inspire us. Connect us. And be bigger than the eight of us.
And we did know that curating an exhibition brings up practical questions, like how many works do we want to exhibit, where do we print, what do we do with the works afterwards, can we all travel there in these day and age. 
And we did in one way or another take you along on this journey. 

A lot of things on our project checklist.
And not everything is checked off.
This is our project of twenty one.
But it did give us focus (or should we say mission).

The Working Mission Statement

Create a photographic exhibition in real live with large toy photography prints that makes an impact and shares our passion.

So let’s break that one down in small components.

Create = that is us, we are a creative collective and creating is what we do.
Photographic = shouldn’t be a problem either as we all have a camera
Exhibition = we did a few before, but how can we make this one different and reach a larger audience ? Take it to the next level.

In Real Live = so not a virtual exhibition in our online galleries, OK, we get that. And make sense. Lets see how this plays out in twenty one.
Large = We will have to define large, as this will become an interesting one. Both from a logistic and cost perspective. But large it is. For sure not just A2. Allthough Maëlick and I will be running some test prints locally this year on A2 like formats.
Toy Photography = Check, that is us for sure

Makes an Impact = Now that is a mystery statement, but challenge accepted. 
Share the passion = Engagement and community. That must be all about you.

Our little project theme. 

So, now that we had a working mission statement, we needed to have a unifying theme.
Our Chief Skeleton In Charge collected thoughts and ideas and brainstormed us through it until we all collectively landed on “The Four Seasons“.
Not sure if the media attention in November played a role here, but we are not talking about that landscaping agency next to the adult shop in Philly.  

The Four Seasons as in Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. 
The circle of life.
The inspiration of so many great artists we can tap into.
And as actual as ever before.  

Four works of art. 

Every individual photographer will need to create by themselves four images for the exhibition that will be printed large.
Four bodies of work that are standing on their own, yet tell a story and share our theme. 

And the reason why we selected four, is obvious.
Creating four significant works worthy to print large on a yearly basis is not an easy task. Four works you look back on and say, they are here to stay.
They tell my story.
They are me. 

Like good old Ansel said “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop“. And he was a photog of his own league.
So we believe four works each worthy to print large should be feasible for us. 

And we do invite you to join us in this creative journey (read on)

The good old WWW (what, when, where)

What

An art exhibition (we will be talking about the why more this year)

When

Well, our projects here are normally year bound, and so are the seasons, so we are currently looking at having a year end exhibition somewhere in Europe (offers from other continents are of course welcome, but maybe that becomes the sequel for next year).
So this brings the when for now to December 2021.

Where.

No location yet.
We have a few ideas, but that is what they are. Ideas.

Just in case you have the right castle for us …

If you happen to read this and have a location to share then don’t hesitate to let us know. For now logistically we would like it to be in the country of one of our core crew members to facilitate logistics which narrows it down to Belgium, France, England, Wales, Netherlands, Finland, Germany or Sweden. 

So, the outlines of a plan are starting to form and we will keep you informed of our (lack) of progress. Expect some frustrated posts in the future :)

And what about you?

We invite you to join our seasonal toy photography workshops where we will be touching on our journey. 
And we invite you to join us in our journey and make your four works around the theme.
It will be a journey, and some of you may very well end up on our exhibition walls in one shape or form (still working that one out). 

Take the deep dive and see where we land. 

For now we do have a hashtag to start tracking the project #SiPgoesFourSeasons

And at least the project is out and about.

Comments welcome below.

/Boris

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Happy Birthday, Ninjago!

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Happy Birthday, Ninjago

Our good friends at the LEGO Group called upon all masters, young and old, of Spinjitzu to celebrate 10 years of LEGO® NINJAGO® with the launch of the awesome Ninjago City Gardens, some exciting collaborations, and a nostalgic look back at some of the theme’s key milestones.

We got to shoot some epic imagery for this.
And we are giving away two exclusive toy photography NINJAGO prints.

But first some history

In 2011, the LEGO NINJAGO journey started and changed the lives of children and AFOLs all over the world. Today, we celebrate the ten years of this epic range of Ninjas that continue to inspire children of all ages and build epic scenes while developing their ninja skills (and some of us their photography skills).

Many of us have explored NINJAGO over the years. Master Wu and the ninja Kai, Lloyd, Zane, Nya, Jay, and Cole have taught some of us how to catch their skills in action on the digital canvas. Or eat cornflakes .

Some of us may not agree with Master Wu when he states “There comes a time when we all must grow up. When that time comes, it’s important not to forget the lessons of our childhood. Because our childhood is the greatest training ground one will ever have.” But we all do enjoy some Ninja wisdom.

Go visit the LEGO anniversary website…

Maëlick and I had the great pleasure to shoot the Gardens over Xmas. Now, some of our work is featured on the anniversary website of 10 years Ninjago over at LEGO. We are super stoked to be part of this anniversary party and want to wish the full Ninjago team another 10 years ahead of them.

You can see all the images on the LEGO site first!

In order to celebrate the 10th anniversary we will be getting 11 new LEGACY Ninjago sets on the shelves throughout 2021. February 1st sees the launch of the exclusive three-level LEGO NINJAGO City Gardens set.
A true tribute to a decade of NINJAGO and a massive fun build. Trust us. We loved it.

The set showcases some of the main moments of the TV series, giving fans of all ages the opportunity to relive the show through a building experience and toy photographers a headache to shoot.

On www.LEGO.com/ninjago10anniversary there will be anniversary content telling the story of LEGO NINJAGO through the years and showcasing amazing fan-created content including fan art, awesome builds, and indeed some awesome toy photography.

The LEGO House will also mark the occasion by hosting an in-depth exhibition celebrating ten years of NINJAGO fandom.

How super NINJAGO is all of this?

And in order to celebrate this even more, we are giving an exclusive Ninjago toy photography print away to one true Ninjago fan.
Just leave a comment here or on any of our SoMe channels.
Tell us to whom you want to give this exclusive print (it could be yourself) and why.
Our innocent Master Wu will announce the lucky Ninja on February 7th.

BTS Coming

And don’t worry, we will have a post a little bit later about the behind the scenes and the challenges such a big set may give you to shoot both in and outside. But first … NINJAGO!

Behind the scenes post coming soon…

PPS. The Fine Print.

We included some official LEGO referral links for the very first time, which means that in the unlikely event you are reading it here first, click on the link, and happen to buy the Gardens the SiP crew will get a tiny kickback. Which we will use to keep this site completly add free and continue to bring awesome toy photography. Wanna buy the Gardens directly and support us right away then click here, just being honest.

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Twenty-One is almost here

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It is still a few days before we can say officially goodbye to twenty-twenty and welcome twenty-one and the launch of the new CMF Twenty One series (coincidence or master planning by The LEGO Group, who knows).
The good folks at TLG (that is The LEGO Group) did ship us a new (small) box of the brand new Collectible Minifigures Series Twenty One or also commonly known as the 71029 ahead of the release for us to play with review.
Twelve collectible minifigures.
Three complete series in one new green box of thirty-six.
And a collection of close friends around the world ready to take them for a full creative review here on the blog in the coming days.

We couldnt wait, and took already a sneak preview inside the green box. And so let us give you our first impressions before we shipped them off for some awesome toy photography mischief and share you our friends most wanted score.

Continue reading “Twenty-One is almost here”
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It’s a book!

Boris - 1 Comment

Well.


Stefan and I have a series in the making.
We call it The Unfinished Projects.
One day we will kind of start finishing them.
Or so they say.
So when we kicked off the #SiPgoesVirtual 2020 with the statement that “the book was written” and the only thing that was missing was the pictures, some of the participants most probably thought of the book of Denmark that is still in the making.
Unfinished projects.
Stefan and I are pretty good at that.

Anyways. Here we are.
Four weeks after the very first ever #SiPgoesVirtual.
And we are having a printed copy in our hands!

If you are curious what the story was all about, you can read the full book at Blurb (and even get your own copy if you want).

We have a super deluxe hardcover that goes well on any coffee table and a mini-me of the story for the collectors of books, who’s coffee table is already fully packed.

It’s a book.
And it is finished.

And yes, we are a tiny wee bit super proud of it.

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What happened to June

Boris - 2 Comments

It is the 5th.
The 5th of July.
I hope you all enjoyed the 4th.
And stayed safe and sound with all the madness around us that happened in the first part of twenty twenty. The second half is now good and well underway (it is raining here in Sweden), and I could not wonder to ask myself that simple question of what happened to June. If you scroll just a little bit down, you will see that the latest (and greatest) post was also by yours truly and is almost a month old. So what happened to June ?

Well, a long and short story at the same time.

Stefan and I went to the “virtual” RLFM days and we knew that June was going to be a busy month by TLG with all kind of announcements just before the summer holidays. However, since the RLFM 2020 was virtual this year we did not have a lot of “own” behind the scene photographic material. So we kind of let most of it slip and will come back once we get our hands on the real deal.

Do expect a creative railroad review of the brand new 18+ Crocodile Locomotive (we got our hands on one and are putting the pieces together). Some burning rubber with Speed Champs in August (yep, our resident racer will take them for a spin) and some attempt at underwater fun with the new LEGO City National Geographics collaboration are amongst our creative personal summer projects.

And in August we will for sure take a very close look at the new 18+ LEGO Art Wellness series that stole our heart (and most probably our wallet for all the small pieces) and try to get our own artwork next to The Beatles, Marilyn, and Darth Vader.

So, what else ?

Personally, June was a busy month for most of us here at SiP. Some of us are preparing to move. Others have been traveling in distant landscapes and abandoned roads without LEGO. And some of the crew continued to adapt and adopt local lockdowns.
We have been studying ancient and new languages alike.
Celebrating graduation and solstice parties in completely different ways.
And enjoyed (or endured) some of the hottest days in decades here in the North. And we continued some of our (not so) secret LEGO projects.

We shot the real LEGO Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 on location in Stockholm and Hamburg and will soon bring you an action-packed after review of the shoot.

And we have a few more photog ops in the making which we will share with you when the time is right. Teasing, I know.

On to some more adventures…

The SiPgoesTT Adventure month of June has come to an end and we do have a winner (but more on that next week, teasing again). July is comic packed with Louis de Funès and Basil Fawlty amongst others. I am looking forward to seeing which movies our host of the month (read Stefan) will add to inspire you.

…and then there was Tallinn

At the end of twenty nineteen, our plans for this year were travel packed with an exhibition in South Africa in the spring, a toy photography safari in Tallinn at the end of the summer, and a SiP Pop Up exhibition in Skaerbaek shortly thereafter.

And then twenty twenty came along and altered the plans a little.

We have decided to turn our toy photography safari into an online toy photography expedition this year. So, keep/reserve the dates in your agenda (5th & 6th September), as we will be going digital and you can join in from the safety of your country for this 2-day packed photographic weekend adventure. Please note you (ideally) should be in a European time zone as there will be a lot of working together.

Seats are limited this year, and we will be getting more information to you in the FB working group and on the blog in the next few days but do reserve the first weekend of September for the very first online toy photography safari.

Summer, here we come.

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Reset

Boris - 7 Comments

Time to hit the reset button.
Not on twenty twenty, but on our little project we are running here in twenty twenty.
As you may remember we started the year off with the SiP goes Twenty Twenty post and embarked on exploring some creative techniques. We got off with some light reading on composition and moved on to the holy trinity of exposure.
We were working on the 101 of lighting techniques when it hit us (pun intended).
This is not working.
It is not us.
And this is too much technique.
And not enough fun.
Not enough creative exploration from the gut.
Following the heart.
Being inspired by what is surrounding us.
And so we hit the reset button on SiPgoesTT.

Getting ready to hit the reset button …
Continue reading “Reset”
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Twenty. A first impression

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Today LEGO announced officially the new series twenty and celebrates 10 years of the LEGO minifigure series with a brand new series 20. We got our hands on a box full of minifigure goodness and we will be sharing our first impression here and look for toy photographers who want to review their favorite minifigure for us. Read on.

But first, what is in the box?

You all by now have seen the announcements of LEGO and the detailed box art of the series twenty, and we will be sharing our first impressions with a photographer’s eye. But we can confirm there are 3 full series in the box.

Continue reading “Twenty. A first impression”