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The Hindenburg disaster and the Tianenmen square tanks have been burned into the minds of everyone with at least a passing interest in photography art and history. They are powerful moments that have so much behind them that building a diorama of these famous photos must be a process filled with deep, historical meaning. Or maybe it’s just two bored photographers who decided to create a series of recreated historical photos called “Ikonen.”

Two temporarily unemployed Swiss photographers named Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger started by recreating an iconic photo in an image called „Making of Rhine II“. The original by Andreas Gursky was sold in an auction for 3.1 million Euro, but the miniature world that Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger built must have been a bit cheaper.

Diorama building does have its difficulties. Speaking to Wired, Cortis said “building people is actually really difficult for us.” He was talking about their latest project, the recreation of JFK’s assassination. Luckily for them, the original vintage photo is blurry, and the colors and figures matter more than details.

More info: wired.com (h/t: mymodernmet)

“208-N-43888” by Charles Levy, 1945

September 11 terrorist attack, World Trade Center in New York City, 2001

“Tiananmen” by Stuart Franklin, 1989

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“Nessie” by Marmaduke Wetherell, 1934

“AS11-40-5878” by Edwin Aldrin, 1969

“Concorde” by Toshihiko Sato, 2000

Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, 2003

An image obtained by the Associated Press shows an unidentified detainee standing on a box with a bag on his head and wires attached to him.

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“The Wright Brothers” by John Thomas Daniels, 1903

“The Hindenburg Disaster” by Sam Shere, 1937

“The last photo of the Titanic afloat” by Francis Browne, 2014

“Rhein II” by Andreas Gursky, 1999

“War Requiem” by Benjamin Britten, 1961

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“Munich massacre”, summer Olympics, West Germany, 1972

“La cour du dumaine du Gras” by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, 1826

“Mont Blanc, la Jonction” by Louis-Auguste Bisson with Auguste-Rosalie Bisson, 1861

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