Well-known photographs and portraits of famous people recreated in Play-Doh

Eleanor Macnair recreates well-known photographs and portraits of famous people in Play-Doh. In this gallery, we look at two of her latest projects – one a collaboration with Magnum Photos, and the other a series of works from the collection of the National Portrait Gallery – all rendered in children's modelling clay.

Macnair started remaking photos in modelling clay and posting the results to the internet via her blog and Instagram in August 2013. A self-taught artist, her tools are amateur – off the shelf Play-Doh, a chopping board, a scalpel and an empty wine bottle as a rolling pin. After each sculpture is shot it is disassembled and the Play-Doh returned to their respective pots, to be used again for future renderings.

Her series of works from the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, will go on display in the museum's bookshop print sales gallery from 18 May to 24 September 2017. Macnair has recreated some of the museum's photos of famous people such as Tinie Tempah, Lily Cole and David Hockney. (Click on the link to see each original photo.)

Tinie Tempah (Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu) by Nadav Kander, rendered in Play-doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

David Hockney, 1974 by Dmitri Kasterine rendered in Play-doh, by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Lily Cole, 2005 by Miles Aldridge, rendered in Play-doh by Eleanor Macnair.

Sarah Forbes Bonetta, 1862 by Camille Silvy, rendered in Play-doh © Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Lydia Lopokova in 'Petrouchka', 1919 by Emil Otto ('EO') Hoppé, rendered in Play-doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Self-portrait by Cecil Beaton, early 1920s, rendered in Play-doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Elizabeth Roper-Curzon (née Scrymgeour-Wedderburn), Lady Teynhamby, 1960 by Madame Yevonde, rendered in Play-doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Oscar Wilde, 1882 by Napoleon Sarony, rendered in Play-doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Adelaide Passingham, early 1890s by Eveleen Myers, rendered in Play-doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Victor Musgrave and Ida Kar, 1944 by Ida Kar rendered in Play-doh, by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

To mark the 70th anniversary of Magnum Photos, Macnair has recreated 10 photographs from the photo agency's history in Play-Doh. Celebrating both the agency's heritage and its contemporary artists, works by Elliott Erwitt, Jim Goldberg, Martin Parr, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Alec Soth, Chris Steele-Perkins, Newsha Tavakolian, Thomas Dworzak and Paul Fusco have been re-imagined in vivid colours.

This collection of images, available as limited edition prints from shop.magnumphotos.com from 1 May, shows a small cross-section of the breadth and diversity of the output of the legendary photography agency over the past 70 years.

New Brighton. From 'The Last Resort', 1983-85 by Martin Parr, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Southend, England 1977. From 'The Teds' by Chris Steele-Perkins, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Imaginary CD cover for Sahar. Caspian Sea, Mahmoudabad, Iran, 2011 by Newsha Tavakolian, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Empire State Building, New York City, 1955 by Elliott Erwitt, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Robert F Kennedy Funeral Train, 1968 by Paul Fusco, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Prized Possession (#2). Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, 2008 by Jim Goldberg, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Subway, NYC 1980 by Bruce Davidson, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

The Necklace, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1999 by Alessandra Sanguinetti, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Tricia and Curtis, Canada 2005 from 'Niagara' by Alec Soth, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Girl with balloons, Grozny, Chechnya, Russia, March 2002 by Thomas Dworzak, rendered in Play-Doh by Eleanor Macnair. Original photo.

Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh was published in book form in autumn 2014 and Macnair has held solo exhibitions of the project at Atlas Gallery, London; Kleinschmidt Fine Photographs, Wiesbaden Germany and Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles. You can see more of Macnair's work on her website, blog or Instagram.