Hobart gets science-fiction makeover thanks to photo-editing skills of bored scientist
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Don’t worry, Hobart hasn’t actually been invaded by aliens or giant robots.
Photos popping up on social media of spacecraft scoping out the city and laser-beaming robots blowing up the iconic MONA ferry are the handiwork of Peter Topliss.
The clever manipulations have turned familiar Hobart landmarks into surreal science-fiction scenes.
Mr Topliss, an environmental scientist by trade, describes himself as a “master of stupidity”.
“I get bored with things very quickly,” he told Helen Shield on ABC Radio Hobart.
“I like photography and I went out and did what everyone else does and take pictures of the same things.”
But his interest in model making gave him the idea to connect the two hobbies together.
Mr Topliss looks for iconic Tasmanian settings and vantage points.
“Then I’ll sit something stupid in the middle of it,” he said.
His proudest work so far is a Star Wars walker in the middle of Hobart’s Macquarie Point.
Other strange scenes include a dinosaur in the River Derwent peering at diners inside MONA, and his prized Iron Giant model wrapped around the Mount Wellington/kunanyi television antenna.
‘I’m no photoshop master’
Mr Topliss taught himself how to use photo-editing programs, with help from the internet.
“I’m not a master of Photoshop, but with a bit of googling and a bit of YouTubing it’s actually surprisingly easy.”
Mr Topliss takes his models along when photographs the scene to avoid having to photoshop all the light settings.
“So I literally take my model, and when no-one is watching, because it’s a bit embarrassing, I get my model out and stick it on a tripod in front of the camera.
“I’m not a photographer. I don’t know what I call myself.”
He did concede he would “get bored of it eventually”.
Topics: photography, social-media, internet-culture, offbeat, human-interest, hobart-7000
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