Sunset Selfies By John Marshall

While spending a month living alone on Maine’s Frye Island, writer and TV producer John Marshall entertained himself by creating Sunset Selfies. It’s an awesomely entertaining series of photos in which Marshall interacts with homemade cardboard characters on the beach (and sometimes in the water), perfectly silhouetted by the beautiful setting sun, which also turns the sky into a gorgeous colorful backdrop. Each scene tells a story in which Marshall whimsically interacts with wildlife, fantastic creatures, aliens, and even favorite famous characters.

On his Sunset Selfies blog each scene is accompanied by a brief description.

“When I’m on the island, I make one cardboard cutout each night and take a silhouette picture with it. The process has a few simple rules:

 

1) I don’t have any help; I use a ten-second timer on my camera and run into the shot.
2) I don’t use any special tools; I mostly use cardboard from the town dump, a cheap pair of scissors and a common kitchen knife.
3) I don’t grab props off the web and insert them later; I only use props I find around the cabin or make myself. (Actually the dragon’s fire did come from the web, but mostly I avoid that.)

 

My hope is that others, especially kids, will see that they can make these too. I’d love to see what they come up with. Anyway, for me, there is something magical in these images. I love to watch my crude cutouts come to life in silhouette and then see how people respond to them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.”