Femme Fatale

Image credit: Roadside Scholar

I first noticed Thomas Allen's book, Uncovered, about a year ago, but given that I was unemployed at the time, I had to make do with a mental note rather than an impulse buy. My mental note failed me, and I'd all but forgotten about Allen's incredible paper-cut photography until I stumbled across his work whilst hop skip jumping around the net last week. I love all things vintage, including found imagery, so it isn't surprising that his work appeals to me. Moreover, I like the idea of a photo of an illustration on a meta-imagery level -- it subverts the notion that a photograph is somehow more true than a painting or drawing, and allows the illustration to live in a 3D world. I guess at a fundamental level, the little kid inside me just likes the idea of a drawing coming to life, even if it is a drawing of a dangerous broad with murder in her eye.

I particularly like these shots from Allen's website, showing his work in progress:

If you think that's awesome, just wait til you see the finished works:

 

 Image credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5