Things in Mike’s beard

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July 8, 2013

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Last week, whilst sipping wine with my friend Alexandra in East Dulwich, we spotted a beard we couldn’t ignore. Always at the ready with my camera, he kindly agreed to a photo for our  We love your beard  board. – We thought that was that, but no, it gets better. Much much better..

As it turns out, Mike, aka Mihkel Mottus, is a bit of beard fiend. His Tumblr, Things in Mike’s beard, is a crazy but extraordinarily beautiful set of images where he sticks anything from nails, marshmallows, pasta or lego over his facial hair and then records his work in a series of self-portraits worthy of Vogue Uomo. We managed to track him down – curiosity go the better of us – to find out the inspiration behind his brilliant website.

Where are you from originally and how did you end up in London?

I’m originally from Estonia. Back in 2002 I was lucky enough to get an amazing opportunity to study for a year in a private school in UK. That year here really opened my eyes to what life was like outside of Estonia. So when the year ended  I was determined to return some day. In 2010 that opportunity arose, so I packed my bags, said goodbye to Estonia and started a new chapter of my life in London.

What is your line of work?

I’m a graphic designer / illustrator / 2D animator by trade and do photography as a hobby on the side. I worked as a user interface / user experience designer for Electronic Arts for about 3 years and am currently a lead visual designer for a lovely company called Hide&Seek.

Where did the original idea for ‘Things in Mike’s beard’ come from?

I’m somewhat obsessed with Pound shops and all the amazingly random stuff you can find there. I had managed to accumulate quite a few bits and pieces that I had no use for and were just lying around my room. I had a vague idea of possibly using them as props in various photo shoots but hadn’t really settled on anything specific. One morning, while having a shower, the idea just sort of came to me, so later that afternoon I shot my first TIMB (Things in Mike’s beard ) photograph – ” 24 Wooden Mini Pegs “

How do you go about constructing each image?

Everything starts with an idea, which is followed by me trying to track those particular items down. Very often discovering something completely different on the way and that ending up in my beard instead.

Every beard is different but it takes a fair amount of time to figure out what works and looks best and how to get it to stick. I discovered pretty early on that double sided tape was going to be my irreplaceable partner in crime.

Is it painful removing the articles afterwards?

It can be, yes! Hee hee! The trick is to do it slowly – unlike the motion of trying to rip off a plaster.

How long have you been growing your beard? Is it a lifelong commitment?

I often joke to my friends that my beard is 70% of my personality. I can’t remember the last time I was clean-shaven, so I’ve always had some sort of a beard. Recently I’ve been growing it bigger and bigger. I think it’s definitely a lifelong commitment and I’m very happy to commit.

You have a particularly natty moustache too! If you could only keep one, which would it be? Beard or Moustache?

Ooh, this is a very hard question as i’m very attached to both. If I had to choose I would probably keep the beard.

Finally, who is your bearded hero?

My ultimate bearded hero is a singer-songwriter William Fitzsimmons. His music is amazing and his beard mighty.

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Click here to see Things in Mike’s beard or here to see Mike’s other blog mazemindphotography.tumblr.com – another fantastic photography project where Mike photographs his friends whilst experimenting with light and different photography techniques.

Things in Mike’s beard celebrated its 1st birthday on 1st of July 2013 so congratulations are definitely in order. Here’s to Mike – let’s hope he’ll be putting things in his beard for many years to come!

 

 

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