Paperboyo: Rich McCor Turns Landmarks into Visual Jokes

A familiar monument, a small piece of black paper and a very well-chosen position: that is enough to turn a travel photograph into a visual joke. Rich McCor, the artist known as Paperboyo, makes landmarks participate in scenes that were never part of the architect’s plan.

The pleasure comes from the second look. First you recognise the place. Then your eye notices the paper shape and the whole scene changes. The photographs are playful interpretations of real settings, not records of objects actually installed there.

Rich McCor and the Paperboyo project

Rich McCor’s early travel images circulated widely in 2015. Paperboyo is the name connecting the individual jokes into a recognisable project, with each new location offering another outline for the artist to transform. You can explore more of the work through Paperboyo’s account and compare how the idea develops across different settings.

In a 2018 interview with Traverse, McCor describes bringing his interest in paper craft into photography. A landmark becomes a prop, while the hand holding the cutout often remains visible. That visible hand is part of the fun: the viewer is invited to understand the trick.

Distance and alignment create the illusion

The cutout is close to the camera and the building or statue is much farther away. From the chosen viewpoint, their edges line up and appear to belong to a single scene. Move the camera slightly and the relationship falls apart.

Scale is therefore something the photograph constructs. A tiny silhouette can appear to match a huge building because both occupy the right amount of space in the frame. Strong outlines help the idea read quickly, even on a small screen.

A paper-cutout exercise for a short walk

Start with a simple shape made at home: a moon, a small boat or a speech bubble. There is no need to reproduce one of McCor’s designs. Look for an everyday setting that gives your shape a new role, such as a railing, a fountain seen from a public path or a cloud above a roof.

Hold the paper away from the landmark and adjust your own position. Take one picture that shows the surroundings and another that makes the alignment clear. Compare them: does the joke still work without an explanation? If it needs a long caption, simplify the shape or try a different angle.

Keep the cutout in your hand, leave entrances clear and take the paper home with you. The idea depends on a viewpoint, not on attaching anything to a monument.

Creativity with a familiar setting

This is a useful antidote to chasing the exact photograph everyone else has taken. You can be creative on the street where you live, with equipment already in your pocket.

For more ways artists transform familiar places, explore Ed Fairburn’s portraits on maps and Trina Merry’s painted illusions. Each begins with careful observation, then gives the viewer a delightful reason to look again.

Find the shape the landmark can contribute

Try looking at the outline of the landmark before imagining the whole joke. A curve might supply the rim of an object; a straight edge might become a platform; a gap might provide the missing space inside a silhouette. The paper only needs to contribute the part the real setting cannot. This is why a simple cutout can be more effective than a detailed one: too many small features make it harder to see the relationship at a glance.

The Little Mermaid photograph is a useful example of working with a subject people already recognise. Recognition gives the viewer a starting point, and the added shape redirects it. McCor’s visible hand also keeps the making of the image present, so understanding the illusion does not spoil it. After trying your own version, compare a tight crop with one that includes more surroundings. The tighter view may make the joke clearer, while the wider one can reveal the everyday place in which the small transformation happened.