![Atop Empire State- in construction; Chrysler Bldg & [Daily] News in middle foreground. (1931)](http://cdn1.retronaut.co/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Atop-Empire-State-in-construction-Chrysler-Bldg-Daily-News-in-middle-foreground.-1931--199x123.jpg "Balancing on the Empire State, 1920s")
‘Los Angeles artist Randy Hage is trying to preserve New York’s iconic past — one miniature storefront at a time.
Tucked away in his home studio, the model maker has been crafting a growing collection of mini New York storefronts 1/12th their original size that look astonishingly true to life.
The intricately detailed recreations are part of an effort by Hage to document and preserve what he sees as the city’s disappearing, grungier past.
In the years since he’s been visiting the city, he said he’s seen the street scape change, as classic, hand-painted storefronts have been replaced by generic logos and stainless steel.
“My goal is to document and bring greater attention to those disappearing storefronts,” he said.
…
This capsule was curated by Randy Hage.
Do you have a suggestion for a capsule? We’d love to hear it.
Whilst amazing models, it would have been better if they had been photographed in situ with some indicator of scale, as they are they do not mean anything…
Delightful work,Randy.
I am a Hage, but am now married with a different last name. I am really intrigued to see a Hage as an artist. All of my Hage family around the Pacific Northwest are entrepreneurs, or work for large corporations.
Where could I see more of Randy’s work?
Thank you, Jill, for bringing his work to our attention.
That’s what I call some ace model work! If not for the captions, it would be nearly impossible to tell which was which. Only the last one is given away by the gigantic leaves in the background.
I agree with Toria.
Too bad, really.
As a photography enthusiast, someone who is interested in prop replicas and model making, and a film graduate, I like seeing things like this. You’ve definitely caught the details greatly. To me, it reminds me of a time in film where they used models to help tell a story where CG now has taken over. Seeing this is amazing. I hope that you continue to do models like this.