When I photographed the Jazz series last year, I felt I should also include some pictures of the band playing on a small stage, in a jazz club rather than a ballroom or a concert hall. However, I never really felt like building the diorama I needed.
While I was making some other pictures however, the frustration about what felt like I was missing out got so strong that I finally I built this 1/87 scale model of a club I remember from 40 years ago … vaguely. Welcome to the Downtown!
Now I just read Anne Sandler’s post about filling the frame, which is about using the complete frame for a picture – as opposed to working with (a lot of) negative space. I recommend reading her article, in which she also reminds us that “most of my [i.e., Anne’s] images in this post extend beyond the frame, meaning their stories continue beyond the confines of the image boundaries.” It was after reading these lines that I realized I frequently use this means in toy photography. It evokes a sense of immediacy, of being ‘inside’ the scene. It’s actually my main reason for buildig these dioramas.
Let Me Off Uptown by Earl Bostic and Redd Evans apparently was a big hit for the Gene Krupa orchestra, featuring Anita O‘Day and Roy Eldridge, in the 1940s.
empire of lights 
Tobias, this was an unexpected and nice approach to the challenge. Nice gallery!
This is great!
HI Tobias. You are a master. I do love that your images carry to story off the edges. I especially love the first image. The lighting takes the viewer right to the singer. Very nice.
I admire the time you put in to create these dioramas and artistry you use when photographing them. This black and white series is amazing. Thank you for joining in!
These are so clever. I love the final image especially
I haven’t actually seen Anne’s post yet, though I’ve seen some of the responses. I’ll go and look now, but first I want to say that I love the singer.