The art of storytelling – with LEGO bricks!
After those first attempts, she never stopped.
She now has over 1,000 minifigures and an entire studio dedicated to taking snapshots of them – and the results are nothing short of stunning. Curious about her work? Be sure to check out her Instagram page @FourBricksTall.
She brings photos to life by creating a completely new world with stones and immortalizing it with the camera.
“Photos can have a big impact,” says Anna.
Instead of in front of the TV, you'll usually find her somewhere with her camera looking for a new building idea, figuring out the right scale or thinking about what backgrounds to make for her minifigures. She loves to create and clearly likes to think outside the box.
Actually, she didn't think she would ever do something like that.
“I look at everything from a photographic point of view, so I focus on the story when I'm building. What exactly am I going to photograph? I think it is a very creative process ... I then completely relax.”
She takes her minifigures to the woods, the beach or even the streets of New York to take meaningful photos.
For those who want to build something with LEGO bricks for the first time, Anna's advice is to start with something small and combine your interests.
“If you combine your hobbies and LEGO bricks, you can come up with many new ways to work artistically with LEGO.”
She makes it educational – and fun!
In addition to her busy work schedule and mothering duties, Anna is also one of the ambassadors of Brick Central, a large photography community of people who photograph LEGO builds and share their work with fans. Currently, the group has more than 63,000 followers on Instagram.
She posts tutorials and tips for photographing LEGO bricks, such as how to make clouds with polyester or what types of lenses to use. It's a niche, but a very cool one!
“With LEGO bricks and photography you can do things that you cannot do with any other medium.”
“A lot of people are of the opinion that what I do is not creative, but you learn new techniques and get inspired to try out new things. With the knowledge you gain, you can then create things yourself.”
A chance to escape, focus and connect
“For me it's an activity that helps you focus when you just want to... use your fingers, be creative... just snap things together. I find it really rewarding to see something take shape before your own eyes.”
She is very happy that her son also loves LEGO bricks. This way they can experience fun moments together – but there is one rule. He is not allowed to play with her minifigures.
“He has his minifigures and I have mine... because if he played with them they would get all scratched up. Children interact with toys differently than adults. We are cautious.”
She lets her son do his own thing when he builds his LEGO sets so that he can learn things himself, build at his own pace and come up with his own creations.
Anna understands that adults build from a different perspective, which once again shows that there is no age limit for working with LEGO bricks. And for Anna, that perspective is the lens of a camera.
How Anna uses LEGO® bricks to photograph a whole new world
