Jeff Friesen may be an award-winning fine art photographer, but he also has a playful side that manifests itself in imaginative projects created using his daughter's toys, whether it's photographing the secret life of plastic toys animals or recreating Banksy's artwork in LEGO. His series 50 States of LEGO reimagines the different states of the USA in LEGO form, humorously representing each state by capturing a unique aspect of the place's history, geography, or culture.
The series first started as a pet project for Friesen and his 7-year-old daughter, who would spend summer afternoons building LEGO scenes and photographing them in a mini studio. After recreating Canada's provinces for fun, the Nova Scotia resident decided to tackle the challenge of assembling LEGO dioramas to represent all 50 of America's states. Friesen, who has briefly lived in the US and visited most of the states, worked with only construction paper and his daughter's limited LEGO collection to create remarkably accurate representations. Viewers can easily guess many of the states, whether it's alligator-infested Florida or Texas and its cowboys. Using playful humor and a clever imagination, Friesen takes viewers on a wild journey across an America that has never been seen before.
Friesen's project will be published with brand-new images in the book United States of LEGO, available on Amazon this September. In the meantime, check out Friesen's website The Brick Fantastic to see the whole collection of the 50 states in all their LEGO glory!
Above: New York
California
Arizona
Florida
Alaska
Kansas
Georgia
Connecticut
Maryland
Texas
Indiana
Washington
Louisiana
New Mexico
Tennessee
