Erik Johansson is a Swedish photographer working out of Berlin who has made quite a name for himself by taking the ordinary moment and inserting a twist in its perception through a very skilled manipulation of the photos, creating a new and surreal reality. Johansson can look upon a very mundane scene and see all sorts of other potentials. In his manipulated reality there are row boats plowing through fields, a driver is faced with with a giant chrome ball that blocks his way and a biker comes upon a road that is cut like a piece of paper, its ends splayed high in the air above him. Real life houses appear like those from an MC Escher drawing. And that is just a small sample.
It is an incredible combination of imaginative vision, skill and technology. You can see more of his work at his website by clicking here. There is also a wonderful blog on his site that gives a real inside look at his process, including a number of videos. Here at the bottom, there is one of these videos that shows in great depth the many layers of editing and manipulation that take place in composing his photo, Cut and Fold, shown at the top of this page. If you’ve ever used photo editing software such as Photoshop, you will appreciate his great skill.
If you don’t care how he came to his final product, it may take a way a bit of the mystery. Or not. I don’t know.
Anyway, it’s great fun so take a moment and let your mind wander into a different reality.
These are just fabulous. Love this kind of work.
Yes, I like this type of work as well. However, as wonderful and remarkably imagined and done as these computer manipulated photos are, my favorites in this genre are from Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison who create marvelous metaphorical scenes on sets they physically create– no computer generated effects whatsoever. I have written about them here in the past. Take a look–https://redtreetimes.com/2011/12/23/the-architects-brother/
Great pics and I love the Swedish houses even upside down. Very inspiring to an artist whatever media.