A man spent years taking photos of one small town, when you look closer, you’ll see why

[mia]

Artist and photographer Michael Paul Smith has spent hours upon hours photographing one special town that he holds very dear to his heart. There is something that always drew him to it, and the images he created are simple, but stunning. They glow with small-town charm and innocence, reminiscent of days and decades past.

The town he photographs is quaint and beautiful.

http://topinfopost.com/2014/03/22/a-man-spent-years-taking-photos-of-one-small-town-when-you-look-closer-youll-see-why

[trusty elf]

1. Wonderful!

[Calista241]

2. Very cool

Can't believe some of the interior details on his models.

[Callalily]

3. What a facinating idea!

[snagglepuss]

4. Absolutely incredible. So well done. I just love it.

Thank you so much for posting.

[Solly Mack]

5. Awesome

[BlancheSplanchnik]

6. wow! so full of atmosphere. ..

Dang, I'm getting choked up! I was a little too young to consciously remember that era, but....so beautiful.

Bauhaus, Brutalism, Modernism, Post-Modernism hadn't overtaken design sensibilities and become the default for mass-production yet.

Classical, Beaux Arts, Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts movement designs were still alive...there were fewer people, more green space as it's called now-- Because now, nature is reduced to little green spaces in a background of development.....

[Mz Pip]

7. The night shots are wonderful

They are kind of eerie without any people. Sort of reminded me of that old Twilight Zone where the couple wake up in a deserted village and it turns out to be a model town created for pets.

[Johnny Noshoes]

8. Technique wise these are amazing....BUT

Am I the only one who finds these vaguely creepy or weird? I guess its just me.

[Chellee]

11. Its because there are no people.

If it was an actual town there would be people in the background. You could not have taken a picture of a city street, and not gotten any people.

[regnaD kciN]

13. Which is why I got suspicious relatively early...

...before they revealed the "secret." Also, there were too many old cars of the same vintage -- unless those photos had been taken before 1960, there's no way you wouldn't have seen a later-model automobile or two in the scene.

[pangaia]

12. Yup, just you.

I like the cars... My childhood...

[madfloridian]

9. That is amazing.

Thanks for sharing.

[malthaussen]

10. Guy looks like MFM's brother.:)

Excellent dioramas. The lack of people is a dead give-away, though. And they're too clean. But those are minor quibbles.

-- Mal

[regnaD kciN]

14. Nice model work...

...but it reminds me in a way of the conservative nostalgia for (and call for a return to) the "good old days" of pre-1960s America -- a comforting fantasy, but one with no basis in real life.