impressonion

Even famous art gets do-overs, right?

Back in the day, painters had their subjects sit for tedious hours while they painted them from life. Portraits took many sessions, resulting in countless wasted hours of delirium for the subject. In more recent decades, painters have had the luxury of taking a photograph of a subject and working from the still image. It is a very common technique these days and is hardly worth mentioning.

Except now they’re doing it backwards…

Booooooom.com asked photographers to turn famous works of art into uncanny photographs as part of their contest, the Remake / Photo Project. Many famous paintings, photographs, film stills, and even sculptures were remade in exquisite detail.

“Pot Pourri” remake by Tania Brassesco and Lazlo Passi Norberto
(click image to see original by Herbert James Draper)

One of my favorites was the “Pot Pourri” remake by Tania Brassesco and Lazlo Passi Norberto. They matched details so well, even down to the position of the woman’s hand. It makes for a very lovely photograph.

“The Ship” remake by Justin Nunnink
(click image to see original by Salvador Dali)

I absolutely loved “The Ship” remake by Justin Nunnink. The way the remake combines the crafted ship sails with the figure and the backdrop painting is just wonderful. I even get the same sense of silence and quiet from the photograph as I do from the painting.

“Bedroom in Arles” remake by Joshua Louis Simon
(click image to see original by Van Gogh)

And the “Bedroom in Arles” remake by Joshua Louis Simon is just stunning. Even if it weren’t for a contest, this is a work of art that needed to be made. I hope it is kept as an installation somewhere because it looks like something that ought to be experienced, more than just viewed in a photograph.

Check out the other entries on the site. Which one is your favorite? What’s a famous work of art you’d like to see remade? After all, every work of art is an imitation of some other piece of art, whether it exists in a photograph, on a canvas, or alive in nature. There are no real originals, but new ideas and twists on old ones make new art novel and extraordinary! (: