Design Free Thursday // Polaroid Portrait Mosaics by Maurizio Galimberti.

Maurizio Galimberti is a celebrated Italian master of Polaroid camera who creates visually arresting, abstract mosaic portraits of celebrities. Galimberti shoots a number of individual frames which he arranges into a larger grid that creates a distorted version of a portrait. It’s such an interesting and trippy effect.

What I really love about these images is their unique three-dimentional quality. The photographer also manages to capture a real sense of intimacy by shooting his subjects from a really close range. It feels as though a viewer is able to focus on a number individual elements simultaneously, and observe an image as a series of frames suspended in time.

Do you have a favourite? For me it’s a close race between Javier Bardem, George Clooney and Lady Gaga (above). Oh yeah, and the Black Swan (below) is pretty cool too. Meanwhile (back at the ranch), Catherine Zeta-Jones’ left eye gives me the creeps…

If you’re curious about how these portraits are created, check out the below video which captures the making of Chuck Close’s portrait in Galimbert’s NYC studio. For more examples of these incredible portraits head on over to the photographer’s website.

P.S. Hope you all have a fantastic looooooooooong weekend. See you back here on Tuesday!

[Images courtesy of Maurizio Galimberti, via fstoppers.com.]