Matthew Albanese is a guy that will undoubtedly make you look twice. He is a very special kind of artist who just loves magic and special effects but then again, who doesn’t? Matthew takes some pretty awesome landscape photographs but in a way you have never seen before. The trick is that the landscapes that he captures are not exactly what they seem to be, at all. Albanese is actually using all kinds of materials to make tiny models of various landscapes with things like toothpaste, cotton, coffee, glitter, plexiglass, peanut shells and many, many more. The best part is that they are so precisely done and are so perfectly realistic that it will, without a shadow of a doubt, blow your mind.
Matthew has been obsessed by special effects, mechanics and all kinds of other movie magic ever since he was little. He was born in the northern part of New Jersey in 1983. His family moved a lot between Jersey and upstate New York, making his childhood very difficult yet interesting. Albanese is an only child, so he always shined with a bright mind and a very vast imagination. He loved solitary play and miniatures and spent most of his time thinking of various scenarios for his brave action figures. He has a Bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts in Photography from the State University of New York. Fresh out of university, he began working as a fashion photographer, capturing bags, designer shoes and accessories, widely known in this business as “table top photography”. But it all began in 2008 when a spilled canister of paprika gave him the inspiration to make his first mini landscape – Paprika Mars, the rest is history. In 2011, Matthew was invited to present his work at the Museum of Art and Design in New York. After that his work has been displayed in many different places including France. He is currently represented at the Bonni Benrubi Gallery in New York.
Here are some of his finest masterpieces to enjoy. On the left side you can see the final product and on the right there is an image of how was the whole thing staged using special effects.
