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Using small Lego figures and powerful vision, Matt Grimm’s view of the Third Avenue Bridge in Cedar Rapids recreates his experience as photographed and interviewed on October 25, 2022. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Matt Grimm creates an image on the Third Avenue bridge in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. Grimm creates images using small Lego blocks and strong vision. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Matt Grimm creates an image on the Third Avenue bridge in Cedar Rapids Oct. 25. Grimm creates images using small Lego blocks and strong vision. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Matt Grimm creates a display on the Third Street Bridge in Cedar Rapids on Sunday, October 25, 2022. Grimm creates images using small Lego blocks and strong vision. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Matt Grimm creates an image on the Third Avenue bridge in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. Grimm creates images using small Lego blocks and strong vision. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
Matt Grimm holds Lego minifigures representing his family in an Altoids tin. The tin is meant to carry the characters he uses to make pictures. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
CEDAR RAPIDS – For most artists, an eye for detail is key. But for one Cedar Rapids man, appreciating the little things in life has taken on a new meaning.
With the contents of a repurposed Altoids tin, Matt Grimm has managed to take even the smallest of art to the next level with a daily post to thousands of Instagram followers.
For some people, the world is their ice. For Matt Grimm, the world is his Lego show.
A photographer ever since he saw his mother capturing childhood memories on a film camera, Grimm was always known for carrying a camera. A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, the 2004 University of Iowa graduate didn’t let a lack of formal photography education or experience stop her from pursuing her passion as a hobby.
But eventually, his 9-to-5 office job began to drain his creative juices.
“You come home and you don’t want to do anything,” he said.
Eventually, he hit a block in whatever photography he liked to do – it was like writer’s block, he says. Seeing another photographer taking photos of constructed situations and miniatures ignited his desire to take his art in a new direction.
Enter: Lego Matt, who has lived a similar life as Grimm since he was created in 2016. Starting out as a single character with blond hair dyed brown to match his human counterpart, Lego Matt is first of Grimm’s collection of hundreds of Lego figures and help to help Grimm create art that follows life.
“It’s a video diary,” he said. “That’s what I compare my photography to now.”
With 95 percent of his Instagram photos taken in real life without artificial backgrounds, Grimm’s Altoids tin has been unpacked and assembled for photos on his iPhone that make for a powerful visual.
With some putty to keep the figures from blowing away in the wind, Grimm makes minute adjustments between shots. Things like dust – the kind that other eyes can’t see – he catches while working.
Other details are saved in Photoshop — putting a preview image on Lego Matt’s camera screen, or removing the blue putty that holds him in place, for example — before going to Instagram. Unlike Hawkeye’s costumes, Lego Matt rarely wears more than one costume.
For the past six years, Grimm has devoted himself to a daily post, thousands of photos linked to his other Instagram stories to show his life through two sets of eyes. – one with retina and one with plastic models. While he kept fit through cycling, he also got creative.
“Posting on my Instagram is my way of getting out there and staying active,” Grimm said. “Instead of sitting down and spending 80 hours writing, I can jump in and take photos and be creative.”
With each photo, Grimm’s little figure is bigger than a blockhead. Through absurd, terrifying and sincere situations, a person who claims to have little talent for drawing can produce an essay with each photo using plastic parts.
If Grimm is shutting off the water lines for his job at the Parks and Recreation Department in Iowa City, Lego Matt will bring a shaker. If Grimm has trouble changing his son’s diaper, Instagram will make fun of Lego Matt talking.
Moments like his wife getting a sonogram while pregnant with their first son — a post that helped make Grimm’s account popular — were the first signs of validation that he knew he had. he did well. Now, strangers around the Corridor recognize him as he lays down the shots.
The hobby has turned on the cheesy side, at times. Grimm has done work for local media and businesses, and his work has appeared in spots at FilmScene.
Continuing the tradition set by his mother in a new way, the depth of field and lighting required for a perfect portrait forced Grimm to think more about the scene he was trying to capture. he to set. In order to understand what makes each scene interesting, it must combine the elements into something that fits into the camera’s frame.
To know how good his life is, he needs to look at the little things. And with Lego Matt, the cameraman-turned-photographer has found a new level of comfort in how he presents himself to the world.
“Sometimes, it means more,” he said. “Sometimes, nothing more than what I think is good.”
Grimm has a hard time choosing the perfect photos, especially the ones he wants to frame and hang on the wall.
“How do you decide?” he said. “They are all good.”
Although Grimm’s creativity has taught him to be his own worst enemy, Lego has given Matt a new perspective on his life: “it’s really good.”
Information: (319) 398-8340; [email protected]
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