It might seem hard to believe but what you're looking at isn't a vintage, black and white photo. It's a pencil drawing. And, even more unbelievable is that it's actually a tiny illustration that takes up no more than about five square centimeters of a page! Edinburgh-based artist Paul Chiappe is the skillful hand behind these series of photorealistic drawings that are on such a small scale that the artist has said “[I] try not to breathe too much when I'm producing the piece so my hand's not shaking all over the place.”
Besides its size, the incredibly realistic rendering coupled with the artist's subject choice makes for an indescribably fascinating series. Despite the people in the pictures being foreign to most spectators, there's a connection to them and their blurry aesthetic. There's a nostalgic sensation associated with the miniature sketches that depict candid, fading shots of family photos and classroom portraits.
Paul Chiappe website
via [PetaPixel, HuffPo]