The Internet is proof of the idea that “one and one and 50 make a million.” A handful of people can see something cool, and before you know it, that something has gone viral.
The Boston Globe had a story last month about a 14-year-old boy who likes to photograph imaginative miniature scenarios, just for fun. Now he has fans from all over.
Ethan Gilsdorf writes about “Zev Hoover’s fanciful photographic take on reality. His arresting images evoke a wonderland of imaginary environments, built from f-stops and pixels, and hinting at characters with secret stories to tell.
“Hoover’s work, which he posts on the photo sharing site Flickr using the handle ‘Fiddle Oak’ (a play on ‘Little Folk’), has caught fire across the Internet. He has been profiled in the media and on design and photography blogs. …
“One post touting his ‘surreal photo manipulations’ has received 108,000 Facebook likes. …
“His series of ‘Little Folk/Fiddle Oak’ images began during a walk in the woods with sister, Aliza. He remembers thinking, ‘Oh, wouldn’t little people be cool?’ Crouching near the ground, he imagined seeing the world from their perspective. He felt the miniature genre had never been done in photography — ‘at least not very well.’
“ ‘There’s a fine line to walk between having it be too abstract and having it be too cheesy-obvious,’ he said. …
” ‘Fiddle Oak’ is not his first photography endeavor. When he was 10, Hoover embarked on ‘The Snugg Project,’ taking a photo of his teddy bear in unique, whimsical settings for 365 consecutive days. ‘It became a little like work,’ his father said, ‘but made him be creative every single day.’ Some of the pictures were displayed at J.P. Licks ice cream shops.”
More.
Photo: Zev Hoover
One of the “Fiddle Oak” pictures.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
I enjoy his work too.
I’m also impressed with the degree of concentration he gives his projects. Who says today’s kids have short attention spans?
Not me!
His Teddy Bear series is terrific, too. Lots of playfulness and whimsy, which inspired many laughs. However, occasionally his themes become more adult, such as the Wyoming image, which takes his project into deeper waters. Hurrah for artists of all ages! And hurrah to you (and Ethan) for leading me to Zev’s work.
Interesting. Even in the Globe article, some of his comments made him seem like an old soul in a young body.