THE SURREAL LANDSCAPE:
These images are part of an ongoing series of Surreal Landscapes. Because the landscape is such an extensively photographed subject I have chosen to use the ‘real’ or ‘straight’ landscape as a foundation and starting point for the creation of my own fictional places. Instead of documenting a place which is truly best experienced with all five senses, my photo-digital surreal landscapes exist outside the laws of physics, logic and normalcy. By rearranging existing natural elements (and ‘growing’ some elements directly in the computer) I can create places that I’d like to visit, yet don’t exist.
These works come to fruition by both pre- and post-visualization. Photography for me, instead of a final destination, is more a ‘mining expedition’ to collect bits and pieces for later rearrangement.
Having come to digital illustration from photography my imagery is photographically composed and contains many of the visual cues found in ‘traditional’ photography such as figure-ground composition and depth of field. Although I began creating this type of imagery long before the ‘digital revolution’ of photography the computer provides a more direct link between the image in my mind’s eye and the image on paper. ‘Digital’ is a new medium. These images could not be made without modern digital technology and they are a true hybridization of old and new technologies.
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