pop out pulp

April 21, 2009 6:11 AM

Thomas Allen's pulp pop-up photography. Allen takes the pulpiest of pulp fiction cover art and restages and redefines it through photography. (book). More pulp: Eclectic Pulp. Lesbian Pulp (maybe NSFW). The George Kelley Paperback and Pulp Fiction Collection. Even Canadian Pulp. (previously)
posted by HumanComplex (21 comments total)

Can't seem to get the images to load in that second link.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:45 AM on April 21

Those are pretty cool! Thanks! I thought he was going to use models to restage the covers and photographs them.
posted by shothotbot at 6:45 AM on April 21

(sorry thorzdad (=Odin?) I was using the second link when you posted. I'm done now. You should be good.)
posted by shothotbot at 6:47 AM on April 21

Can't seem to get the images to load in that second link.

Try scrolling down. Works fine for me, but sometimes they pop down the page.
posted by HumanComplex at 6:47 AM on April 21

Please, please, PLEASE tell me he didn't cut up the originals to make these.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:50 AM on April 21

Wow, these are superawesome. And you'd think the concept would wear out but if anything it gets better down the page. (I think we had a post on a similar thing a year or two ago, too and it was just as good then.)

Also, the idea of putting these into a book blows my mind. They would then be 2D representations of 3D objects made from 2D representations of 3D objects. Someone should cut his book up into a popup...
posted by DU at 6:51 AM on April 21

shothotbot: "Those are pretty cool! Thanks! I thought he was going to use models to restage the covers and photographs them."

Me too, but these turned out to be damn cool. This one is especially clever.
posted by Science! at 6:54 AM on April 21

Try scrolling down. Works fine for me, but sometimes they pop down the page.
Nope. Nothing. Weird. The whole Paintalicious website is like that for me. FF2/Mac.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:56 AM on April 21

In fact, when I try to follow links to individual images, I get a 403 error.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:57 AM on April 21

Yes, nice.
posted by OmieWise at 7:32 AM on April 21

Very nice. Pretty sure it's a double. He's got a lot more these days though.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 7:36 AM on April 21

That is freakin fantastic. Love it.
posted by spicynuts at 7:38 AM on April 21

Great stuff, thanks!
posted by thatbrunette at 8:21 AM on April 21

Thorzdad: "In fact, when I try to follow links to individual images, I get a 403 error."

Well it looks like they, or that one, was moved to a new URL. It no longer works for me.

It's one of the first on the page and is called "Cover". I think all the cowboy and gunfight ones are pretty awesome, but that just might be because cowboys are naturally awesome.
posted by Science! at 8:24 AM on April 21

Pretty sure it's a double.

Yep, but there are indeed a bunch of great new ones here.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:46 AM on April 21

And this post expands into the realms of pulp collections.

Brandon, I'm afraid to say he (probably) does. To be fair, there are a lot of unloved books that are tossed aside by those who don't have the ample space to store pulp gems, so he's bringing people back to pulp novels who might have passed them by. True, some may take to them with razors, but at least they're not being mulched straight away. Maybe people will scan and re-print the covers, as to allow them to re-use certain "models."

Lovely though these are, I wish he were a little less heavy handed with post-production blurring. For instance, how is that the heads of both ladies are in focus? And why is his stomach in focus, while his head is not? I understand the desire to create the feel of depth, but it seems a bit careless at times.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:47 AM on April 21

Sorry about the dupe. I searched for Thomas Allen and didn't see him mixed in towards the bottom. Glad there was some new stuff to enjoy. Will be more careful next time.
posted by HumanComplex at 10:34 AM on April 21

And why is his stomach in focus, while his head is not?

My guess is he's simulating the impression of the mysterious stranger stepping into a bar with either a shadow over his face or his hat brim low.

Thanks for pegging why that image looked off, though.
posted by Decimask at 2:55 PM on April 21

(I couldn't place it)
posted by Decimask at 2:57 PM on April 21

fabulous, thanks!
posted by ericbop at 7:00 PM on April 21

As a photographer I love seeing other photographers pushing the envelope and innovating...
posted by dancephotographer at 9:28 AM on April 28