It’s a fine feat to turn books into sculpture. Artist Thomas Allen cuts people and things out of old pulp fiction novels, kids books and anatomy textbooks and reassembles them into a scene. He then photographs them using dramatic and dynamic lighting, perspective and depth of field to create a completely new and unexpected narrative.
Allen describes his photos as “dames, dicks, and deadbeats ‘cut loose’ from the covers of vintage paperbacks to mix it up for the camera, blending pulp with pop-up, dime novel with diorama, and illustration with illusion.” Above Maneater (2006).
Photo Illustration for The Wall Street Journal
Breathtaking (2006)
Fancy (2006)
Noted (2005)
Tangle (2008)
Via Oswald Gallery, Thomas Allen Online and Joseph Bellows Gallery
See also 5 masters of vintage and recycled paper collage art
