What do you call a man who disassembles machines, categorises every piece, arranges them meticulously, then photographs the inventory? In his native Canada, Todd McLellan is a successful photographer, whose subjects include rural landscapes, motorcycles and chickens. But in 'Things Come Apart: A Teardown Manual for Modern Living' he seems more like a mechanic with OCD.
Still, his innate talent for composition is what makes these still-lifes so compelling, with their rows upon rows of screws and coils, shiny strips and candy-coloured copper. How do you fit all those parts into a tiny digital watch? Is there really that much going on in a video projector? Who donated their two-seater light aircraft to be disemboweled (over a three-page gatefold) like a shelled oyster?
Apart from the sheer pleasure they bring, McLellan's images also earn respect for the people who fix these intricate contraptions, many of which (a Sony Walkman, a 1964 Smith Corona typewriter) haven't been made for decades - at least not like they used to. Then you turn the page and those same pieces are captured in mid air, mid-explosion; McLellan's passion for blowing stuff up is second only to his affection for photography.
'Things Come Apart' pays homage to machinists and tinkerers with a series of essays by the pros, on subjects such as boat-building and computer-repair. A life of tinkering, even on objects long obsolete, is not for naught, it would seem. The manual is published by Thames & Hudson on 20 May, but you can order it in advance.
In the book's second chapter, focused on medium-sized objects, he takes apart all 147 components of a 1960s Oster blender
A 1980s Raleigh bicycle in the chapter dedicated to extra-large objects. Component count: 893
McLellan's innate talent for composition is what makes these still-lifes so compelling, with their rows upon rows of screws and coils. This 1990s Homelite chainsaw had 268 pieces
This Optimus keyboard from 1999 - comprising 178 pieces - is in the 'large' chapter
Many of the objects - like the 1990 Macintosh Classic on the cover - have been obsolete for decades
Some items store curious contents, like this Pyrene fire extinguisher made in 1999, with 28 components
A detail of the 558 parts of a 2005 Canon digital video camera...
... and a Sony digital SLR
The Victorinox Swiss Army knife is one of the few items whose components are somewhat predictable
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