Inspired by the one and only Terry Border (see here and here), Ian Thomas decided to create his own, incredibly funny everyday objects series called “Stuff That Comes Alive When I Go to Sleep.”
“The first one I did was How Sliced Olives Are Made,” he says, “it just kind of came to me one day when I started to look at things differently after coming across the work of Terry Border. I thought it was just going to be a one-off type thing, but ideas kept coming. After that it seemed like any time I was in a creative slump when it came to photography I had a backlog of ideas for my set.”
What is it about Border's art that spoke to him? “I give Terry Border's work the utmost respect for helping me see things from a totally different point of view,” Thomas says. “He puts so much care and attention to detail into his creations it's impossible not to be impressed.”
Of course, Thomas has a knack for creating some pretty wild scenes…
How Sliced Olives Are Made
Party Crashers
Doctor Bananas' Diagnosis: Patient is a little nuts.
Exposed
A Salute to Digital Photography
Ninja Sushi
Darth Pepper
Sun Dried Tomatoes
The Interrogation
Date Night – “Honestly baby….. this has never happened before…. just give me 20 minutes”
Cherry Pie Search and Rescue
Caramilk Goons
Pickled Eggs
What advice would he give to others who want to create their own everyday objects series? “Don't be a afraid of people thinking you're a weirdo (this goes for everything in life, I think). Plenty of times I have people steer clear of me in the supermarket as I stood quietly giggling at a piece of fruit or a jar of peanut butter,” he says. “As well, inspiration many times will hit you completely out of the blue. When it does hit you, jot it down in a notepad. On occasion, I will flip back through the pages of mine and find an idea that I had completely forgotten about.”
