The 1:50 vernacular letterbox
For a while I’ve been photographing letterboxes in rural valley towns of the European Alps. Many are slightly inaccurate, miniature replicas of their host chalet at about 1:50 scale whilst others are off the shelf versions which have been adapted by their owners.
Constructed around the classic green metal cube letter box found on driveways accross France, these have been lovingly augmented in hommage to their full-scale counterparts. Some with balconies, some with a sloping mid-century roof and others with exaggerated pitched zinc rooves, the more elaborate ones have miniature windows and protruding balconies. Those with timber cladding appear to have either been treated in the same way as the 1:1 chalet or the letterbox has been built at the same time and has aged at the same rate.
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Photos and text by Ness Lafoy, 2020
For a while I’ve been photographing letterboxes in rural valley towns of the European Alps. Many are slightly inaccurate, miniature replicas of their host chalet at about 1:50 scale whilst others are off the shelf versions which have been adapted by their owners.
Constructed around the classic green metal cube letter box found on driveways accross France, these have been lovingly augmented in hommage to their full-scale counterparts. Some with balconies, some with a sloping mid-century roof and others with exaggerated pitched zinc rooves, the more elaborate ones have miniature windows and protruding balconies. Those with timber cladding appear to have either been treated in the same way as the 1:1 chalet or the letterbox has been built at the same time and has aged at the same rate.
Vernacular replica letterboxes in Samoëns, Haute-Savoie, France, documented in Jan 2020. Photos: Ness Lafoy
Photos and text by Ness Lafoy, 2020