Tatsuya Tanaka creates a mini-diorama of ordinary scenes everyday

Tatsuya Tanaka creates pocket-sized scenes of everyday life, on a daily basis for “Miniature Calendar”, his pet-project

From the Series

What initially started as a means of photographing his collection of diorama dolls amongst familiar settings built to scale, has now unfolded into more than 1000 scenes. Tanaka's collection became a long-term project when an Instagram commenter suggested he create a scene every day.

Photographer and art director Tatsuya Tanaka began creating his playful miniature dioramas in 2011. Four years later, the photographer shows no signs of stopping his diorama collection. If anything, his creations are getting more inventive and strange – A rolled up magazine becomes a wave for a surfer to ride, a circuit board is suddenly a rice paddy field, and a slice of mango becomes a small island decked out with a palm tree. 

The Japanese photographer imagines everyday things in different ways and the result is childlike in the best way and absolutely fantastical. Tanaka posts photos from Miniature Calendar on Instagram every day.