The Surreal Photography of a Modern-Day Salvador Dali

Photography Tips

In what has basically been a 14-year Photoshop ad, the career of surrealist Swedish photographer Erik Johansson has produced some of the most dazzling images on the web, blending the 3D trickery with a soft-focus, dreamlike lens. He is a full-time digital retoucher and photographer, but more properly, he is an artist in the same vein as surrealist greats, like Salvador Dali, René Magritte and Jacek Yerka:

Johansson’s been noticed and commissioned by Google, Adobe, and iMax, and has even given a TED Talk on inspiring people through his magical art. He shoots primarily with a Canon 5D Mark II and relies heavily (and obviously) on Photoshop.

“Growing up on the Swedish countryside had a big impact on my visual style. A lot of the environments in my photos are captured near places I know, around my parents’ home with wide open landscapes and small red houses. Inspiration is everywhere and what you can imagine is what you can create.”