Street Photography in a City I Built

Is it street photography, or miniature photography, or architecture photography, or portrait photography? Or is it just me setting up tabletop terrain, blowing fog into the studio, turning on some lights, embracing the effect of diffused sunlight and taking pictures?

I am listening to “Her blood” right now. Very evocative. I’m trying to figure out what parts or which specific sounds provoke the emotions I feel when I hear them. And while I’m at it, it motivates me to set up the Hive City tabletop terrain tiles and create a massive studio backdrop.

A backdrop of up to 120cm high, and 150cm wide, for miniatures in 28mm scale. And yet that would only translate to buildings some 60m in height. Which is absurd when you have photographed Lower Manhattan. But having these tabletop buildings in a tight formation lets me create scenes of a dystopian, grim, and dark future. Like the streets of Queen Mab, straight out of a Dan Abnett novel.

A city in which you need to be aware of where you walk. Because after the next turn it could be a gang waiting for you.

But maybe it isn’t gangers waiting. Maybe it’s a cult, leading you deeper into the Hive. Where the mould clings to the bare concrete walls, where brackish water drips from rusted pipelines, and where the hypnotic sounds I hear make the whole scene even more immersive.

I follow them, and the music follows and consumes me. I still can’t say why.