--- description: These artists have painstakingly recreated some of the world's most influential images title: See World Famous Photographs Recreated in a Studio image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt986f01f79bebb9e9/69877d04cd684857e8099760/ikonen_hindenburg0603_b_druck.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See World Famous Photographs Recreated in a Studio by [Richard Conway](/author/richard-conway/) ## Richard Conway Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2015 9:00 AM CUT  Making of The Hindenburg Disaster, 2014\. Original photo by Sam Shere, 1937. Making of The Hindenburg Disaster, 2014\. Original photo by Sam Shere, 1937.Cortis & Sonderegger by [Richard Conway](/author/richard-conway/) ## Richard Conway Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2015 9:00 AM CUT Variously described as “[a sludgy image of the grey Rhine under grey skies](http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/nov/11/andreas-gursky-rhine-ii-photograph "undefined")” and as “[vibrant, beautiful and memorable](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/8884829/Why-is-Andreas-Gurskys-Rhine-II-the-most-expensive-photograph.html "undefined"),” Andreas Gursky’s _Rhein II_ was once the most expensive photograph ever sold, until [it was surpassed in 2014](http://time.com/3628565/most-expensive-photo-peter-lik/ "undefined"). Auctioned off for [$4.3 million in 2011](http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/nov/11/andreas-gursky-rhine-ii-photograph?newsfeed=true "undefined"), it was an image that quickly entered into the public lexicon and was one that often divided public opinion. It is images such as this one that Switzerland-based artists Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger have painstakingly been recreating in their own studios — with store-bought models and some in-house DIY. Their photographs are playful, mocking even. And while we might laugh at a black cardboard _Loch Ness Monster_ raising its head above plastic wrap water, seeing a facsimile of a burning World Trade Center, with pen-etched windows and cotton-wool smoke, is certainly jarring. What is most striking, though, is how accurately they have recreated the originals. Their burning _Hindenberg_ is as terrifying as the one in Sam Shere’s iconic [1937 image,](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatpicturegalleries/8502342/History-as-it-happened-the-photographs-that-defined-our-times.html "undefined") and their recreation of [Ludwig Wegmann’s shot](https://www.bundesarchiv.de/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/bilder%5Fdokumente/03626/index-4.html.de "undefined") of a hooded kidnapper during the 1972 Munich Massacre is equally chilling. But this very realism is framed by evidence that these are photographs of miniature models: we see rigs, overhead lighting and even rolls of masking tape on the floor. It is a move that seems to draw attention to the very artificiality of the pieces, reminding us that these are merely objects. Just like the original photographs. [**_Jojakim Cortis_**](http://www.ohnetitel.ch/ "undefined")_and_[**_Adrian_** ](http://www.ohnetitel.ch/ "undefined")[**_Sonderegger_**](http://www.ohnetitel.ch/ "undefined") _are artists based in Switzerland_ **_Richard Conway_** _is reporter/producer for TIME LightBox_  Making of 9/11, 2013\. Original photo by Sean Adair, 2001. Cortis & Sonderegger  Making of Nessie, 2013\. Original photo by Marmaduke Wetherell, 1934. Cortis & Sonderegger  Making of Rhein II, 2012\. Original photo by by Andreas Gursky, 1999. Cortis & Sonderegger  Making of Five Soldiers Silhouette at the Battle of Broodseinde, 2013\. Original photo by by Ernest Brooks, 1917. Cortis & Sonderegger  Making of Olympia München, 2014\. Original photo by Ludwig Wegmann, 1972. Cortis & Sonderegger  Making of The Hindenburg Disaster, 2014\. Original photo by Sam Shere, 1937. 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