Artists Laurie Simmons and Allan McCollum shared an interest in using surrogates and proxies to make their photographs. In their collaborative series Actual Photos (1985), they created portraits of “Z” models, the smallest figure size used in model train sets. Because each one is no larger than 1/4", the artists photographed the figures with a laboratory microscope to allow us to see the protean quality of their misshapen faces and malformed bodies, all set against vividly colored backgrounds.

Submitted by Kelly Sidley, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Photography