Photographer Commemorates Childhood Love for Star Wars, Places Iconic Figures in Every Day Vistas

Photographer Commemorates Childhood Love for Star Wars, Places Iconic Figures in Every Day Vistas

Thomas Dagg loves Star Wars. Each and every Star Wars figure and ship he owns, he can recall the name, where/how he got it, and their roll in his burgeoning imagination. His childhood wouldn't be the same without the galactic adventures, and as an adult he has paid tribute to the galaxy far, far away in photographs.

Referring to the original trilogy (you know, the REAL Star Wars), Dagg explains, "I remember bringing home each of the three movies from the local Blockbuster for the first time. I remember unwrapping the box set for Chrismas from Santa. I remember the first Star Wars toy I received; Boba Fett (a reward for being a good boy while getting teeth pulled). I definitely remember wearing out the tapes from playing them every single day after school. Heck, I can pretty much quote the entire trilogy word for word.

"I can put each of their blasters or missiles on the correct characters and in the correct ships. I got my first stitches making a helmet for a storm trooper and I learned how to prioritize and save for my wants... or at eight, my needs.

"I absorbed anything and everything Star Wars... it was my life."

Most of these shots were achieved using those same childhood figures and scale lights. What results is something that looks like anything but a toy. The project has taken Dagg nearly two years to complete, which is a big testament to his dedication. I, for one, think all the time was worth it, especially when you see his results. 

"Much to my parent's anguish at the time, even some of my near death anaphylaxis stories can be linked with the original trilogy in some way. My favourite story is how I got Chewbacca. I was eight and had ingested a rather large amount of dairy. The doctor was standing next to me as I sat there jacked on epinephrine. He said I had to drink liquid charcoal to make myself "un-ingest" said dairy. There was nooooo way I was drinking it after the first disgustingly thick sip hit my tongue. In typical Star Wars obsessed fashion, I told them I would drink the horrid black liquid if, and only if, I could have Chewbacca. He was next on my list of characters I needed to fulfill my imagination and playtime requirements, after all. Of course what parent wouldn't say yes to whatever silly demands came out of their dying child... You can bet to this day, Chewy sits on my desk; a reminder of my dying extortion at eight years old."

As a fellow Star Wars fanatic, I can't help but love these photos. You can see the full series at Thomas Dagg's website.

All images used with permission.

Jaron Schneider's picture

Jaron Schneider is an Fstoppers Contributor and an internationally published writer and cinematographer from San Francisco, California. His clients include Maurice Lacroix, HD Supply, SmugMug, the USAF Thunderbirds and a host of industry professionals.

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9 Comments

great article, love the vintage street feel of his photo series. Great concept

This is great...love the concept. They're not so obvious either at first glance.

Jar Jar found dead in an alleyway

OMG this is so awesome

...I loved the part about his dying extortion at eight years old. :D

The photos are awesome too. I am partial to the subject matter though...

Love it!

Thomas offered some more info on his process, both creative and technical for this post: http://www.camerastupid.com/photographer-combines-star-wars-street-photo...

The idea looks too much like http://www.cedricdelsaux.com/fr/photos/dark-lens.html
or I'm just a patriot...

I'm a little late to the game on this article but WOW. Amazing. I got my figures as bribes not extortion. lol For every A, I got a figure and if I stopped biting my nails I got one for every nail! I got a lot of A's but was never able to stop biting the nails.