Assignment Research: Erik Johansson

Erik Johansson to me is the king of image manipulation photography.  He is a professional photographer and retoucher based in Sweden.  The equipment he uses is a Canon EOS 5d mark II digital slr body with lenses from Canon's L series.  Johansson does some work on commissions but most of his best images were done for his own personal pleasure.  His pictures have no cause or political agenda, they are just innovative, fun images that raise a smile.  I could put every single one of his images on here but I've chosen just a few of my favourites.

Melting Point, Erik Johansson.

A similar theme I have noticed in his photographs is that he likes to defy physics.  In this shot it is the person that has melted, dripping away down the drain and not the ice cream.

Lego, Erik Johansson.

Not as visually stunning as some of his other work but what I love about this is how it confuses your eye and distorts perspective.  You can see that the vertical section links up seamlessly with the lower horizontal section which isn't physically possible.  Johansson has included some scattered lego blocks to make it look natural as if a child was mid play.  The way the blocks are placed balances out the picture nicely.

Wet Dreams On Open Water, Erik Johansson.

When you're asleep and you're dreaming anything is possible.  You could be flying a space ship, riding a bike or rowing a boat all from the comfort of your own bed.  This a very clever image and almost as though we're inside the womans mind as she's dreaming.  The fact that the boat is a bed lets us know something that she doesn't, that it's all a dream and what she sees is not real.  The clouds and the trees on the horizon lead the eye into the frame and the lighting is flawless.

Vertical Turn, Erik Johansson.

Another seamless image that if we didn't know better would say it was real.  The image to me looks kind of like a land waterfall like a path with the characteristics of a river.  The person at the top of the 'cliff' is key to the success of the image.  By having him there it gives a sense of scale.

The taking of the original pictures is crucial.  The lighting and perspective of the images all need to match if end product is to be a success.  Johansson uses Adobe Photoshop and layer masks to create these stunning images.  He then adjusts the saturation, contrast and brightness to make the differences in the photographs seem smoother.