WORDS Lindi Brownell Meiring VIDEO via Veena Rao on Vimeo
This video, directed by Veena Rao as part of the New York Times Op-Docs series, follows the work and life of Turkey-based miniaturist artist Ali Alamedy, who creates tiny historical dioramas by hand.
“Through my work, I hope to take people back in time, even briefly, to a different time and place,” he says.
Inspired by scenes from books he read growing up, Ali recreates old bookshops, cafés and avenues. His most recent and biggest project yet, a photographic studio (below), took him nine months to work on. Ali wanted to make sure every detail was historically accurate – the research alone for the creation of this miniature took him two months.
After being forced out of Iraq, Ali has not yet made a miniature depicting the country of his birth, but hopes to one day be able to create something that brings him, and his viewers, a sense of joy.
