A film-loving Kiwi couple are capturing hearts all over the world with their creative family photo album.
Former Wellingtonians Leon Mackie and Lilly Lang moved to Sydney a couple of months ago, finding themselves with a lot of cardboard boxes, and, with no family or friends in the city, some time on their hands.
They decided to create mini film-sets and take photos with their baby son, recreating favourite movie scenes. The Cardboard Box Office was born.
From Jaws to Die Hard to Jurassic Park, the family have cut, pasted, assembled and posed their way through big-screen greats.
The photos are compiled on a blog, which has received around 40,000 views and attention from all around the world – including the Daily Mail, Good Morning America, and Sunrise Australia.
“It was a big surprise… it just started out as something for friends and family, then it seemed to really take off,” Lang said.
“Leon had wanted to do it so we set it up – he’s just super-duper creative, always thinking of cool things to do and we love photography.”
The couple both went to Massey University Design School, and Mackie works as a children’s book designer while Lang, now a stay-at-home-mum, used to run the New Zealand Post Book Awards.
Lang said although the Cardboard Box Office feedback had been overwhelmingly positive, there were a few who dismissed the activity as a waste of time.
“You get people going, ‘how do they find the time Don’t these people have jobs’ but you wouldn’t criticise people sitting down at their TV from 6 til 10pm… and we don’t have a TV,” she said.
“Otherwise it’s been incredible, people saying ‘I wish my parents had done stuff like this’, and ‘he’s going to have a great photo album’.”
She hoped their son, 10-month-old Orson, would continue to enjoy the projects as he got older.
“If we have any more kids we’ll have to keep thinking of things to do with a couple more characters!”
The family are now back in New Zealand for Christmas, but managed to put together a seasonal scene – “Homemade Alone” – before leaving.
“We had to leave for the airport, and an hour before the car was coming to pick us up we were posing in a full-on winter outfit, when it was about 30 degrees,” Lang said.
“We’re putting another one up on Saturday – it’s Cardboard Box Office on tour, we’re utilising all the things at grandma’s house.”
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