This is certainly dating me, but I used to see loads of lovely diorama interiors online, both real-life and CG-produced, around 25-30yrs ago. For example medieval castles, Dungeons&Dragons-type fantasy scenarios, and lush, detailed historical settings that filled up the entire screen, making the viewer feel that they were inside the sets. Wallpaper material, one might say. The feel was like in the OP, as well as maybe this one:
https://www.trustedreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/06/7832-Indy1-1.jpg
Again, the cropping made you feel like you were inside the piece, as opposed to it being a build sitting on a table or whatnot, like so:
Not sure if anyone knows or remembers what I'm talking about, but my basic question is just-- anybody have source for stuff like the former..?
Around 20-30 years ago, people took a little more care in composing a photo, even the amateurs. Hard drive space was still kind of pricey. Smart phones weren't ubiquitous yet. It took some level of real investment to create the kind of photos you miss. Lego landscapes are hard. They're tiny and big at the same time. Focus, depth of field, and lack of a background all work against you in ways a little diorama doesn't. Combine that with more people that haven't actually studied the craft of photography, taking more photos than ever and you get flooded with snapshots. Those lazy snapshots still happened 20-30 years ago to be sure, but nobody's remembering them because they were forgettable then and forgotten now, kind of a survivorship bias. The same reason people argue that the music they listened to in grade school always was and forever will be the best music.
With all due respect, I fear you're combining different phenomena in your analysis.
Oh hell, no. The ones I was seeing were absolutely outstanding, which I tried to give y'all a taste of, above. And all the technology to produce them was there, as well.
Millions of people who love LEGO + software tools + creativity = some REALLY good shit, here and there