Tat's great - globetrotting photographer turns tacky tourist souvenirs into art

Been there, seen that, taken the tacky photograph.

A globetrotting photographer creates optical illusions by placing cheap tourist tat souvenirs in front of famous landmarks – and making them look like the real thing.

Michael Hughes began his project way back in 1999.

So far, it has included shots from renowned landmarks such as the Koh Samui Big Buddha temple in Thailand, gates of Versailles in France and The Gateway of India in Mumbai.

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And among the latest batch of photos to be shown are images of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and, a little closer to home, London’s Big Ben.

The 64-year-old Brit, now living in Berlin, said: “I’ve been doing these since 1999, at first I would use postcards but I’ve now set myself some rules and they are that I’m not allowed to take anything with me to each destination.

“All the souvenirs or mementos have to be bought near to where I was going to take the pictures.”

Michael has also visited less well-travelled areas including the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine where he photographed a Geiger counter outside the damaged reactor building.

He has used fridge magnets, decorative plates, candles, key chains and a number of other items to work into this pictures after visiting more than 200 countries.

Michael added: “I think one of the key reasons people like these pictures is because of the optical illusions involved, people like those, they find them fascinating.

He said: “People also like to see a use for those awful, tacky souvenirs.

“There is obviously a market for them because so many people buy them but it is fun to use them in this creative way.”

Michael said he used to get odd looks from people when he first started this series but now everyone seems to know what he is doing.

But, despite working on the project for 17 years there are a number of places Michael has yet to visit and photograph.

He said: “I’ve not done anything in places like Australia and Japan I would love to visit there, that would be great.”