erik johansson breaks the boundaries of reality with brain-bending images
(above) ‘impact’
all images courtesy of erik johansson

 

 

 

self-taught swedish photographer and retoucher erik johansson makes the implausible possible, turning outrageous scenarios into surreal yet familiar fragments of reality. his ongoing portfolio of photo manipulations — previously featured by designboom here — sees landscapes unzip from the earth, human body parts shattered like porcelain, and buildings bent in half. johansson describes his style as ‘photo realistic surrealism — surreal ideas realized in a realistic way with a touch of humor. I can’t really say that I’ve decided what I want my style to look like,’ he continues, but ‘it becomes what it becomes, I just realize the ideas that come to my mind and I don’t choose to develop a specific style to make that happen.’

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‘the architect’

 

 

 

johansson’s recent compositions like ‘impact’, ‘the architect’ and ‘soundscapes’ continue his distortion of the natural world by morphing multiple images into one. for example, ‘impact’ illustrates a lake, breaking apart into pieces of a mirror. the effect has been created through the use of 17 square meters of mirrors and a small boat, which has been carefully overlaid atop a photo of the surrounding landscape. ‘the architect’ is a brain-bending piece that plays with perspective and the distortion of space by forming an architectural optical illusion. johansson documents much of his process in a series of videos, which you can see here

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‘soundscapes’

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‘endless reflections’

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‘free breakers’