Souvenir Photography of Michael Hughes

When most people go to a landmark or tourist attraction, they take home a little souvenir to remind them of their trip. Then there's Michael Hughes. He loves to take pictures of the world's famous landmarks - perfectly blended with cheap souvenirs.

Born in Britain and now living in Germany, 56-year-old Michael Hughes is a freelance photographer. Hughes started this hobby back in 1998 and has accumulated a rich collection of over 100 fun images using this blending technique in 200 countries he visited.

"I noticed coffee cups from a shop near the Statue of Liberty had the statue printed on it, so I poured my drink on the floor, and positioned it in front of the statue. Since then, taking the pictures has developed into a hobby and a passion to the point where I have been taking trips recently just to photograph a souvenir next to its landmark".

Michael, who travels extensively with his job, said the hobby has progressed into a 'sport with its own rules': He arrives at the destination, visits the nearest souvenir and buys the cheapest souvenir. Michael then takes up to 50 photographs with a wide angle lens on a digital camera until he has the ornament positioned in exact proportion to the landmark.

Statue of Liberty, New York, USA

He has photographed the Egyptian pyramids and Sphinx, London's red buses and the Berlin Brandenburg - all combined with their souvenirs.

Big Ben, London, United Kingdom

The pictures have earned Michael more than 5 million hits on file-sharing website Flickr and an invite to appear on America's prime-time The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Palace in Vienna, Austria

Michael, who works as a freelance photographer in Germany, added: I used to be a souvenir snob and I'd only buy the most expensive ornaments. Now I've turned that on its head by using cheap ones and doing this childish idea of putting them in the picture. Several photographers had toyed with the idea and some people do things like putting fingers above buildings but I'm the only person to do this. Thankfully it's actually very difficult to do it properly so nobody can copy me, though they do try.

Palace of Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany

Michael has released 20 of the best images in a book called Souvenirs published by graphic designers Fivefootsix based in London. He said: Souvenirs are actually something to prove somebody has had a life and they have been somewhere important. 'They are part of something sentimental that most people didn't like to admit to - I think they're pretty damn weird.

Posted by serge, 30 April 2009. Post has 2 comments.
photo sightseeing souvenir travel