The Web's best LEGO directory — Hall of Bricks

Hall of Bricks - For the LEGO® Enthusiast

Hall of Bricks is a Web site for LEGO® enthusiasts of all ages. Our mission is to provide LEGO® fans with a well-organized directory of links to the best LEGO®-related content on the Web.

Try out our customized LEGO® search engine, developed with the LEGO® enthusiast in mind. We hope you bookmark Hall of Bricks and come back regularly. Thanks for visiting!

In addition to being the Web's best LEGO® directory, we'll have periodical feature stories on valuable and interesting members of the LEGO® community, and occasionally we'll share some of our own creations.

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site.

• 2.5.2009 - I LEGO N.Y.

• 1.12.2009 - Digital Blue teams with LEGO®

• 1.1.2009 - Block party: LEGO® bricks turn 50

• 12.6.2008 - Brickset: Getting ready for 2009

• 12.4.2008 - BrickArms finds itself in "controversy"

• 11.12.2008 - EU court says LEGO® can't trademark its bricks

• 10.4.2008 - BrickCon in Seattle

• 7.27.2008 - LEGO® named Britain's favourite toy

• 1.28.2008 - LEGO® renaissance builds on key strengths

Ten sites we find either useful, cool or both. In no particular order:

• MOCPages - A great site for sharing photos of your LEGO® creations.

• BrickLink - Huge network of LEGO® stores; find virtually anything!

• Peeron - Most useful set inventory/instruction site.

• VignetteBricks - This is the top shelf of LEGO® blogs, in our opinion.

• Sean Kenney - Our favorite LEGO® artist. A must-see.

• Brickfilms - The best collection of stop-motion LEGO® movies.

• Builders Lounge - Quality site with MOC sharing and discussion forums.

• Brickset - Fantastic LEGO® reference site.

• BrickArtist - Nathan Sawaya's mind-blowing LEGO® creations.

• The Brothers Brick - Quintessential LEGO® blog.

Do you have LEGO® news, a LEGO®-related website, article, set review, MOC or other LEGO® information you’d like to see included in Hall of Bricks? Let us know!

Stimpson recreates famous photos in LEGO®

Hall of Bricks - LEGO photography by Mike Stimpson

January 3, 2009

West Midlands, UK — Photographer Mike Stimpson was kind enough to join us for a Q&A session to kick off 2009. As part of his varied and accomplished portfolio, he has combined his passion for LEGO and photography into a series of wonderful recreations of famous photos — in LEGO! We asked the 34-year-old a little about his work and its inspiration and here's what he had to say... Hall of Bricks - LEGO photography by Mike Stimpson

Hall of Bricks: Did you grow up playing with LEGO toys?

Mike Stimpson: Absolutely. I've been playing with Lego since I was about 6. I still have my Lego club member's badge!

HoB: What were a couple of your favorite LEGO sets?

MS: I used to love the classic castle and space sets as a child, I still have most of the pieces though they're a little chewed up these days. Of the modern sets, the Star Wars sets are just the ultimate in cool. Having grown up in the 80's, I'm a big Star Wars fan. The only thing that's stopped me buying every Lego Star Wars set that Lego makes is that I wouldn't have anywhere to put them!

HoB: What inspired you to re-create historical photos in LEGO? And are there specific photographers whose work you particularly admire?

MS: The original idea for the recreation photographs came from a natural combination of two of my hobbies, Lego and the history of photography. Since taking up photography I've been interested in the history of the medium. The war-era photographers are some of my favourites, and one of the first photography books I bought was one of Henri Cartier-Bresson's work. I was amazed by his compositional skills. I've done a lot of recreations of Magnum photographer's work, they're some of the most iconic images ever taken. Lego is something I've been interested in since I was a kid, so there's always been some Lego around the house. When I got my first 'proper' camera a couple of years ago I took pictures of everything I could get my hands on, and the Lego ones turned out to be the ones that I liked the most.

There are many photographers I admire and from whom I draw inspiration. Henri Cartier-Bresson's photographs have been a common subject for my Lego recreations, his compositions are instantly recognisable, even when created in Lego. Ansel Adams' photographs always amaze me too, a perfect combination of technical excellence and stunning beauty. His landscapes make me wish I could build Yosemite national park out of Lego! Another photographer whose work I'm quite into at the moment is Carl Warner. His "Foodscapes" series just blew me away when I first saw it.

HoB: What camera equipment do you typically use to shoot LEGO creations?

MS: I shoot most of my Lego with a Nikon D200 and a Nikkor 105mm Macro lens. I also have a Tokina 35mm macro lens when I need a wider angle or more depth of field. For lighting I generally use Nikon SB-800 flashes with umbrellas, or LED lights for my miniature portraits.

HoB: How do you generally feel about LEGO as an expressive medium?

MS: Lego is quite a difficult medium to work in if you're looking to create art. It is quite restrictive and the raw materials are relatively difficult to get hold of (you can't just pop down the local art shop and get 20 Lego Stormtrooper helmets for example!). Unless you're creating something large you have to make imaginative use of some of the specialised pieces. I'm in awe of people who can build in microscale, I've seen some very creative use of obscure Lego pieces that I'd never have thought of. Flickr user "roguebantha_1138" has some beautiful microscale Star Wars ships, I really wish I had the skill to make things like that.

HoB: Do you have any favorite LEGO artists? If so, who and why?

MS: I don't really follow Lego art that much. I'm more of a photographer than a Lego builder, but I do have huge respect for the building skills of Lego artists like Nathan Sawaya and Sean Kenney. I build just enough for my needs, if you've seen any of my setup photographs you can see that there isn't much outside of the frame!

HoB: Of your work, what is your favorite LEGO creation/photograph? Why that one?

MS: Easily the recreation of Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Behind the Gare Saint Lazare". It took a long time to get all the elements right, the suspended character, the scenery, the correct reflection in the water. Even though I didn't manage to get the ballerina poster in there (and believe me, that has been mentioned!) it's still one I'm proud of. The original is one of my favourite photos, a perfect combination of composition and timing.

HoB: What is your favorite thing about LEGO?

MS: I love the restrictiveness of Lego, especially the minifigures. They're hard to pose, have limited clothing choices, hair and facial expressions. Even within these limitations, it's amazing to see what a bit of imagination can achieve.

Hall of Bricks would like to thank Mike again for his contribution, and we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that you can purchase a very cool 2009 calendar of his LEGO photography.

More of Mike's work can be seen on his portfolio sites:

RedBubble
Flickr

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