WATCH: Stunning sunset scenes created by cardboard goes viral

US-based artist and cartoon creator John Marshall Sunset Selfies pictures have gone viral. The photographer created a series of images using cardboard cutouts, which he positioned in front of the sun to get the desired result. 

Speaking on the project in a YouTube video, Marshall said: “ Sunset Selfies started as a creative project for myself while I was living on an island here in Maine. Each night, I would go down to the water just as the sun would set. One night, I took a beer box and cut a real crude alligator head to it and stuck it on my head. I really liked how the silhouette turned out in the shot.” 

Since then, he has been creating realistic images from cardboard cutouts of India’s grand architecture to encounters with wildlife. On his creative process, he said: “I usually just come up with an idea and draw it out. I use very simple tools. I have a pair of scissors and a little knife. I cut them out. When they are finished, they do not look like very much. You really just looking for the outline, so it does not matter what it looks like otherwise.” 

He described the process as “magical.” 

Here are five we love: 

India

On the creation, he said: "Before the lockdown, I spent a lot of time in India. When I’m not cutting cardboard, I work as an advocate for orphaned children, telling stories and raising money. It’s the best work I’ve ever done.

"Since 2014, I’ve lived half of each year at the Good Shepherd Agricultural Mission, a large orphanage in Uttarakhand. It’s become my second home. The children there have become like my own children.

"I made this Taj Mahal Sandcastle image a few years back at a time when I was missing these kids, and I feel that way again today. Here’s hoping the world opens up once again and I’m able to visit one day soon." (sic).

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Before the lockdown, I spent a lot of time in India. When I’m not cutting cardboard, I work as an advocate for orphaned children, telling stories and raising money. It’s the best work I’ve ever done. Since 2014, I’ve lived half of each year at the Good Shepherd Agricultural Mission, a large orphanage in Uttarakhand. It’s become my second home. The children there have become like my own children. I made this Taj Mahal Sandcastle image a few years back at a time when I was missing these kids, and I feel that way again today. Here’s hoping the world opens up once again and I’m able to visit one day soon. To my many new followers in India, to the children of the @indianorphanage, to @rickshipway @cliftonshipway @eugenefilly @priscillashipway and the rest of my far-away Indian family at the farm, this image is for you. Love from the 🇺🇸. John

A post shared by Sunset Selfies | Silhouettes(@sunsetselfies) on Jun 6, 2020 at 5:44am PDT

An ostrich of a time

This image of him riding an ostrich is stunning. He posted: "When you're riding an ostrich and it starts to accelerate, two thoughts will run through your mind. One: Hold on tight! Two: Not too tight." (sic)

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When you're riding an ostrich and it starts to accelerate, two thoughts will run through your mind. One: Hold on tight! Two: Not too tight.

A post shared by Sunset Selfies | Silhouettes(@sunsetselfies) on Dec 10, 2017 at 5:55am PST

Elephants encounters

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What I love about the tiny elephants that you find all over the island is how friendly they are. At sunset, I could see them all over the rocks, and a few of them ran up to me when I approached. At first I thought they just liked me. Then I remembered the peanut butter-scented lip gloss I was wearing. #sunsetselfies #sunsetart #cardboard #cutouts #instaart #silhouettes #creativephotography #elephants #babyelephant #elephantlipgloss

A post shared by Sunset Selfies | Silhouettes(@sunsetselfies) on Oct 29, 2017 at 4:34pm PDT

Dolphin trust 

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It's hard enough to earn the trust of a wild baby lake dolphin. But to get one to jump through a hoop on command so close to shore...it makes all the years of patient training seem worth it tonight. #sunsetselfies #silhouette #cardboardcutout #photography #fryeisland #dolphins #babydolphin #hereboy!

A post shared by Sunset Selfies | Silhouettes(@sunsetselfies) on Oct 12, 2015 at 6:13am PDT

Solo travel 

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I’d never really given it much thought…but tonight, as my brothers chirped on and on about their favorite kind of worm and my sisters pecked mites out of their feathers, the idea occurred to me that perhaps I’d been adopted.

A post shared by Sunset Selfies | Silhouettes(@sunsetselfies) on Jun 8, 2020 at 9:13am PDT