My fascination with them probably has a lot to do with my childhood love of Robin Hood. One of my earliest memories is watching Disney's The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952). I don't remember exactly how old I was, but one particular scene stayed with me: Robin Hood and his Merry Men enjoying a roast chicken and eating it with their hands.
Naturally, as a child, I decided that this must be one of the greatest things a person could possibly do. For years I wanted to eat a whole roast chicken with my bare hands, just like Robin Hood.
So perhaps my affection for the LEGO Forestmen was inevitable.
For these photographs I imagined a very simple little story. Two Forestmen have managed to steal a bag of loot from the local lord and are making their escape through the woods. Unfortunately for them, one of the lord's knights intercepts the two outlaws as they attempt to cross a river.
The knight doesn't intend to let them escape with his master's treasure.
The pursuing knight also features a custom armour piece made by BrickWarriors. BrickWarriors was one of the first websites I discovered dedicated to producing custom accessories and equipment for LEGO minifigures, and over the years pieces like these have become an important part of many of my figures and scenes.
I photographed the scene outdoors using a real stream as the setting. The flowing water, rocks and surrounding vegetation turned a very small LEGO encounter into a much larger adventure — a knight charging through the river while two Forestmen desperately try to make their getaway.
