I was truly amazed when I came across this brilliant series of photographs called ‘Motion/Stills’ by Canadian photographer Todd Mclellan. In this series, Mclellan spent hours dismantling old objects like a phone, a lawnmower, a wind up clock, a Pentax camera, a typewriter etc. He captured two images of each item: the first one which consists of all the parts overlapping each other and randomly arranged, while the second photography displays a systematic arrangement of all the parts including the tiniest screws and wire pieces.
Mclellan started collecting old objects after graduating from college, but realized he wasn’t really going to use it. So, he decided to shoot it in a portrait or product style which later emerged into a more intense, yet interesting project. Mclellan spends upto a day & half to three days dismantling objects and then shooting them. Mclellan’s interest in troubleshooting, passion for photography and encouragement from his father at an early age played an important role in making this series possible.
While being interviewed for an article in the Smith Journal, he was asked if he ever put stuff back together. To which he jokingly replied, “I think something like the phone would be easy, but the rest of the stuff….I could probably put some of it back together, the typewriter absolutely not. The Camera, not a chance.” Mclellan’s ultimate idea of excitement is to dismantle and shoot an aeroplane. Now, this is something I would be looking forward to seeing in the future. Sounds like a hell lot of fun eh!
