Photographer Tim Walker Provides Inspiration for Home Interiors

The work of photographer Tim Walker has long been flamboyant and expressive. Having won numerous awards during his life time, he currently takes photographs for Vanity Fair and Vogue magazine. What is particular fascinating about Tim Walker’s photography is the amazing and often outlandish stage sets he creates on which to base the fashion shoots. Whilst clothing fashion and interior decoration are somewhat related, one doesn’t usually see the two combined.

The images presented below showcase some of the Vogue magazine installations created by the photographer Tim Walker which I feel will also provide inspiration for home interior design. One might guffaw at the notion of somehow incorporating these Alice in Wonderland styles into the ordinary apartment or house, and that would be understandable. However, inspiration can strike from even the most bizarre and surreal scenes we come across in life.

Obviously, unless one has a lot of money, many large rooms and a rather decadent lifestyle, we will not be recreating these fantastical interiors to the very last detail. We can on the other hand, take small parts of Tim Walker’s photographic Vogue instillations and include them into part of our living room or bathroom interior decor. I’ll give some examples along with each of the images.

I’ve covered Alice in Wonderland styles on this blog before. Vogue photographer Tim Walker has told in interviews of his love for the stories by C.S Lewis and Lewis Carroll during his childhood years. His work is very obviously influenced by these tales. The image here shows a giant watering can surrounded by colorful butterflies. In the ordinary home interior, little décor accessories which add color to what can be a drab room will likely lead to an increase in the space’s character.

A British spitfire flies into this interior which is decorated with cloud wallpaper and retro pictures and photographs from the 1940′s period. Whether Tim Walker was influenced by the popular “Biggles” series is not quite certain, but probable. Notice how the sofa cover imitates the blue and white of the wallpaper and almost seems to merge into the sky effect. This clever décor coordination can be used in your ordinary home interior design.

As I mentioned at the beginning, clothing fashions and interior decoration are related in many ways. I don’t think this can be highlighted any better than the scene in the above image. Photographer Tim Walker has placed lights inside the frameworks of women’s dresses creating an absolutely stunning outdoor lighting effect. The beauty of the tree and dark sky becomes the perfect backdrop to the eye-catching display.

In previous entries on this blog I have shown some amazing lighting structures such as these sea inspired light sculptures and decorative paper lampshades. The above image, whilst not an inside shot, can nevertheless be taken as inspiration for a residential interior space. With a little imagination, it’s very possible to create decorative lampshades from old pieces of material and wire framework. Do you have a few spare coat hangers and a couple of lighting adaptors? Why not have a go at making a “dress light”? It would make your friends burst with envy and shock.

Walls don’t always have to be flat surfaces. When I was studying at Art College I took a particular delight in designing walls that held a surrealist element to them, such as an everyday item being half in the wall and half out. You can see an example of what I mean in this photo by Tim Walker which shows in the bottom right-hand corner a flower pot merging into the wall. Surrealism plays a large part in the photography sets of Tim Walker, which is reminiscent of the works by such artists as Rene Margritte and Salvidor Dali.

A cheaper alternative to changing the structure of your walls is to use fabrics and shelving which can be colored in the same tones or paint which have been used to decorate your interior landscape.

I bet this image will remind many readers who have teenage daughters of their offspring’s messy and tumultuous bedroom. A brook or stream runs through the center between rocks and the foundations of trees. Obviously having a river flowing through your bedroom or living room is out of the question, unfortunately but you can take some inspiration from this photo.

Plants and flowers always add a breath of fresh air to a home interior. There are many creative ways you can incorporate nature into a room, for example this geometric polygon flower planter and raku bottle-neck vase. Natural looking sculptural stones and wall posters can also increase the feel of the wild.

You can see more work by the much admired fashion photographer on his website here: Tim Walker Photography.

Tagged as: artsy, fashion, Inspiration, interior decor, interior design, photographer tim walker, surreal