Monsterlaut

Gibran Risnutama is a toy photographer from Jakarta, you can check his work on Instagram under the name Monsterlaut.

What led you into toy photography?

I really do love everything about pop culture and wanted to create some fan art based on my version or take of that, but unfortunately I can't draw. But, thanks to the internet, I found a way to express my love towards pop culture through toygraphy back in the 2015.

Luckily I found eyeofuatu, Jazzer knightwing2110, and many more that helps me grow my skill set.

What's your motivation?

At first it was just sharing my collection and deliver a so-so visuals but now I got my passion towards cinematic feel and wanted to discover more of it. Toy photography is like an addiction to me, but it is quite hard to find a motivation while I hit the art block.

What's your gear?

I used a mirror less camera, Lumix GX7. I'm just an enthusiast on photography so there's no reason behind it why I'm choosing a M4/3 instead a DSLR

What does a typical photo shooting look like?

My work is heavily influenced by Alex Ross. So you'll find many of my shots were overexposed on some parts because I want to get close to what he did on the visuals.

So usually I only use one light source, an external flash, and sometimes a couple of bouncers.

Any advice for a beginner?

Do it for yourself, like is just a number. Get fun with it, be wild, explore things.

Who is your favorite toy photographer at the moment, or the one who inspires you the most?

There are many that inspires me at first like rams_ands, ovic_yulkarnain, noserain and plasticaction, but the one that really thought me about posing was saintsyn.

For my favorite right now is ser__geo but my all time favorite is arthurjr. His work really enjoyable, simple ideas brilliant set up.

Finally, If you had to keep only one toy, which one would you choose?

For the time being the figure would be Mezco Supreme Batman.

Cheers 🤘