Quarantine has seen photographers launch themselves into a crazy number of photo challenges, some with great results, some that are already feeling a bit like hard work. The J. Paul Getty Museum has hit the ball out the park, though, with their photo challenge: recreate a work of art using three objects you have lying around at home.
The inspiration provided by their team is simple but fun; the recreation of portrait of a Halberdier alone is enough to make me want to have a try at doing this myself:
Careful attention to detail also creates some hilarious additions — for example, the A&D logo to replicate the artist’s initials in a recreation of Stag Beetle:
What makes this challenge brilliant is that it's quick and fun for total amateurs and even for those who’ve never deliberately taken a “photograph” rather than a phone snap, but also that some photographers and artists are clearly spending a lot of time and effort creating something remarkable.
There are also some clever takes on modern life compared with when the artworks were created, such as Rachel Forrest’s photograph, replacing the gramophone with an iPod:
And of course, the oh-so-topical toilet roll makes several appearances:
Some photos make you chuckle, some make you stop and think, and some that make you want to have a go yourself. That’s the best kind of photo challenge in my eyes.
Kudos to the Getty Museum, as their web traffic must be through the roof at the moment, and there aren’t many museum sites that can say that during lockdown.
Now, over to you! Search the Getty Museum’s collection, and get cracking!
