The nuts and bolts of photography: things come apart

I dare say that many of us are interested in the nuts and bolts of how things work. I know I was fascinated by the exposed interior of my first iMac back in the 00s.

I’m not sure I’d go so far as to actually take my computer to pieces though, certainly not if I wanted it to keep working.

Taking things apart, and documenting them is exactly what Canadian photographer Todd McLellan does in his “Things Come Apart” series. McLellan describes the project as an expansion of his original Disassembly Series and “explores retro to modern daily items that have, or will be in our everyday lives”.

The series features a pair of photographs per object: a chaotic ‘exploding’ image in which the elements of an item are arranged to hint at their original function; and an ‘ordered’, almost scientific deconstruction of the the item in which the original form is as lost as the function.

The resulting images are both lovingly intricate, and forcefully rebellious. Just remember: don’t ever lend him anything.

Have you ever dismantled something to see how it worked? What would you like to see disassembled? Let us know in the comments.

Paddi MacDonnell

Paddi MacDonnell is a designer and entrepreneur from Northern Ireland, follow her on Twitter.