Touching film about finding salvation in creativity, and Elgin Park

Date
19 February 2015

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From LSD, Michael Paul Smith learned that he “didn’t have to go to foreign lands to meet foreign people.” This realisation informed what he went on to dedicate his life to – creating tiny, perfect model depictions of the 20th Century, mapped out in his miniature town Elgin Park.

The story behind the creation of this lovingly handcrafted, optical illusion-forming space is as intricate and awe-inspiring as the pieces themselves, and has been documented in a heartwarming film by director Danny Yourd. Michael lives a reclusive life, but was suddenly thrust into the public gaze of a huge internet following when his photographs of Elgin Park went viral off the back of their publication in an English motoring magazine. To date, the project has had more than 76 million views on Flickr.

Michael’s story, as Danny’s film narrates through an empathetic, but never cloying lens, hasn’t been an easy one. He was badly bullied at school for being “different,” and attributes this to the fact he was gay – something he says he knew right from kindergarten. As an adult, he worked as a cabinet-maker, a postman and in a bar, which he was fired from for “refusing to wear hotpants.” Throughout this chequered career history, though, he was plagued with suicidal thoughts.

Michael says: “It tried to kill myself a number of times for a lot of reasons and each time [I survived] it was like getting a message to my future self saying ‘you can get through this, and make a difference in your own little way to the world’.”

And make a difference he has. “I found out the thing I love doing most has changed so many people’s lives,” he says. His fictional land edits out the bad things that have inspired its creation, instead honing in on the details that make life beautiful.“There’s too much bad in the world. Elgin Park does not need the bad,” says Michael. “Elgin Park is a very neutral place. There’s no conflict there. It’s colourless.”

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Danny Yourd: Elgin Park (still)

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Danny Yourd: Elgin Park (still)

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Danny Yourd: Elgin Park (still)

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Danny Yourd: Elgin Park (still)

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Danny Yourd: Elgin Park (still)

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Danny Yourd: Elgin Park (still)

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Danny Yourd: Elgin Park (still)

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Danny Yourd: Elgin Park (still)

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About the Author

Emily Gosling

Emily joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in the summer of 2014 after four years at Design Week. She is particularly interested in graphic design, branding and music. After working It's Nice That as both Online Editor and Deputy Editor, Emily left the company in 2016.

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