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Art Photography

A Daily Project by Tatsuya Tanaka Turns Everyday Goods into Quirky Miniatures

A scroll through Tatsuya Tanaka’s Instagram chronicles the everyday happenings of a cleverly designed world in miniature. The Japanese artist (previously) has spent the last decade reimaging life-sized objects like pencil sharpeners, sponges, and slippers as tiny sets for his cast of characters: a "P" key rests on a painter's easel, bobsledders barrel through a bowl on a hot pepper, and ice skaters race across a white surgical mask. Released daily as part of his ongoing Miniature Calendar project, the works often correspond with current events and cultural moments, including Tanaka's…

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Art Photography

Masks, Toilet Paper, and Thermometers Transform into Miniature, Outdoor Adventures by Artist Tatsuya Tanaka

In the time of COVID-19, disposable face masks, toilet paper, and other essentials are synonymous with safety, precaution, and staying indoors. But in Tatsuya Tanaka’s ongoing Miniature Calendar series, the everyday items are subverted to create the tiny sets of outdoor adventures. A folded mask serves as a small tent, toilet paper descends from a wall holder as a snowy ski hill, and a thermometer outfitted with wheels transforms into a speedy racecar. For more of the miniature scenes from the Japanese artist and photographer (previously), head to Instagram,…

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Photography

Tatsuya Tanaka Continues Building Tiny Worlds in his Daily Miniature Calendar Photo Project

Since April 2011, art director and photographer Tatsuya Tanaka's imagination has built a magnificent number of miniature worlds (previously here and here). Through the artist's clever lens, everyday activities like construction work, walking the dog, getting a parking ticket, and plowing through a blizzard become delight-inducing scenarios. Tanaka also plays with pop culture references, building staple skyscrapers for Godzilla to prowl. You can see more from Tanaka's ongoing Miniature Calendar project on Instagram, where he shares his creations each and every day. With over two thousand scenes and counting, he has garnered an impressive followership of a million people. In…

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Art

Potato Chip Sand Dunes, Spiral-Bound Swimming Lanes, and More Miniature Transformations from Tatsuya Tanaka

Another year, another 365 days of miniature glory from Tatsuya Tanaka (previously).  On a daily basis for the past seven years, the prolific Japanese miniature artist has shared unique images of imagined scenes created using the simple combination of everyday objects, tiny model humans, and his boundless imagination. (For anyone keeping track, that'd be over 2,500 dioramas.) Crinkle-cut potato chips become desert sand dunes, spiral-bound notebooks delineate swimmers poised to compete, and books filled with sticky notes create an urban skyscraper scene. Tanaka periodically releases books, calendars, and post card collections of his favorite photographs, which he lists on his…

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Art Food Photography

Highlights from Artist Tatsuya Tanaka’s Daily Miniature Photo Project

Photographer and art director Tatsuya Tanaka has a fascination with all things tiny and has an uncanny ability to repurpose everyday objects as set pieces or tools for the inhabitants of his miniature world. For his project Miniature Calendar, Tanaka has been stretching his imagination to its limits nearly every day for the last four years. A tape dispenser becomes the bar for a restaurant, a circuit board is suddenly a rice paddy field, and the notes of a musical score become the hurdles for a track race. Individually, the photos might invoke a smile or chuckle as you get…

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Art Food Photography

New Highlights from Artist Tatsuya Tanaka’s Daily Miniature Photo Project

Japanese art director Tatsuya Tanaka (previously) continues to entertain us with his ongoing miniature photo project, now stretching into its fifth year. Tanaka uses office supplies, food, and other found objects that he utilizes as set pieces or backdrops for miniature inhabitants. You would think his desire to continue the project would diminish after surpassing 1,000 photos or that his imagination would be completely tapped, but that's clearly not the case. You can see new images from the Miniature Calendar project every single day on Instagram and Facebook.

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