We contacted Alex to learn more about this activity of his and his daughter's. The photographer shared that he joined Instagram years ago because it was what the internet told him he was supposed to do and it was the only way the man knew how to make his photographs look like "cool old Polaroids". "I think I accidentally posted one or two photos on it and then the account sat dormant for years just collecting dust (and no likes). I started posting photos of the movie recreations in early April of 2020 - shortly after the lockdown started."
Alex revealed how he came up with the idea to make the funny recreations: "It was about three weeks into quarantine. It was still pretty cold outside and everything was shut down. I was at home with two little kids trying to fill the day with activities but really only filling up about 35 minutes of the day. At one point we were in the living room hanging out and my daughter Matilda climbed atop an old plastic car (cozy coupe) and started surfing on it. I ignored all my parental instincts of concern for her safety and well-being and instead recalled the iconic scene in 'Teen Wolf' where Mike J Fox surfs on top of Stiles’ van. I showed her how to play air guitar (she was only four and a half) and begged her to let me take one photo. It came to me in a flash. It’s basically like when Newton was inspired to formulate the theory of gravitation by watching an apple fall from a tree."
"I guess that’s a long way of saying I started the account to not lose my mind being stuck at home with my children. I’m a state prosecutor by trade. I am assigned arson investigations. I know nothing about photography.
I have a friend named Andrew Kelly who is a photographer. He lives in Colorado - so he zooms in and directs me remotely on how to set up all the shots. It’s tedious and technical so we used the stuffed fox (blue ears white dots) as Matilda’s stand-in. She was 4 and not gonna sit around while we figure out lighting and angle."
Matilda’s following has grown significantly from when the family first started. "Initially I thought we’d have some friends and family that followed along and liked the photos. It was a shock when absolute strangers started following along. It’s very cool. It’s exciting. That absolute strangers are into something we thought we’d only find funny. The type of followers hasn’t changed - it’s people pumped to see famous movie scenes they love morphed into kid-friendly scenes."
"It’s tough as I have no talent as a photographer, have no equipment, lack props, and Matilda’s attention can only be stretched so far even with the promise of an awesome LOL Doll.
We look for scenes that are iconic enough that people will instantly recognize them but don’t require too much “acting” from Matilda, or too much preparation on my part. So if you can think of any iconic movie images where a character is either: standing still, smiling, or sleeping let me know. That being said I think we have an obligation to tackle the big dogs like 'Ghostbusters' and 'Point Break'."
"Matilda is into the final product. And it exposed her to a lot of the 80s movies she might not have ever seen. Her favorite Christmas movie is 'Gremlins' because of this project. She brought the finished photos into the show and tell this year and it was my proudest moment.
Matilda’s favorite recreation was 'Bridesmaids'. Man, she kept that 16 dollar Amazon wedding dress on for two days straight. She biked around all day in that thing. It’s now shredded at the bottom after it got caught in the spokes.
My wife helps with hair and makeup and the sets take about two weeks to build give or take depending on the scene. My mother in law is great with sewing so she’s tailored a ridiculous amount of costumes for this. It’s truly a family project."
