Superimposing cut-outs or other items on scenes and then photographing them, to make them funny and pleasing, is nothing new. But, it is the sheer brilliance of Rich McCor and his keen visualizationin composing these shots that leave us in awe.
Known popularly as Paperboyo, this London-based photographer uses anything and everything to exercise his art of juxtaposition that his imagination can capture. This has led him to compose fantastic photographs of buildings, bridges, structures, art installations, popular landmarks, and even scenic views.
What he does is simple. He first visits the location and visualizes what will look best juxtaposed in the photograph. He then creates a cutout from black paper and places it creatively to give a completely new meaning to the scene, which is simply marvelous.
So, what motivated McCor to adopt this form of photography? He explains, “I decided I’d become a tourist in my own city. I wanted to see the London that I ignored, to explore the landmarks and the quirky history. I started researching for interesting facts and began thinking about how I could photograph the sites in an original way.”
His first creation was transforming London’s Big Ben, using a cut-out. When he showed what he has done to an interested girl and her father, he was surprised finding them very enthusiastic about the whole thing. This spurred him on in this direction.
He created several other such compositions and posted them on Instagram. People liked his work, so much so, that he was contacted by the Lonely Planet on Instagram. They wanted him to create some photos for them. And this is how he got out of London to other parts of the world, visiting Stockholm, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Paris, doing what he does best with cut-outs.
This was just the beginning, McCor has had the opportunity of doing several projects in collaboration with leading brands, such as Disney, NFL and Vodafone. This also motivated him to travel the world, creating such whimsical and witty scenes with his cut-outs. All this, he has put together in a book titled ‘Around the World in Cut-Outs’.
What started out as a hobby for McCor, got fast-tracked into a full-time passion when his pictures started going viral on the Instagram. Today, this wonderful creator enjoys a following of over 330,000 on the Instagram, over 12,000 on the Facebook and is keenly watched on the internet.
Paperboyo
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