Introduction
Photography is a tremendously inspiring, versatile, and exciting medium that allows us to slice a moment out of time and to preserve the memory of momentous occasions, from the personal to the international, in pictorial form. It’s also incredibly varied; photojournalism is an indispensable element of the news media, capturing images of real-life events across the globe and telling stories in a hugely visceral way, while at the other end of the spectrum millions upon millions of wedding portraits, first photos of babies, and reminders of amazing holidays are taken every day.
And then there’s artistic photography. Separated by intent from both strictly personal and strictly political photography, artistic photography is most often made with the aim of communication, inspiration, or expression. Of course, photography created as art is under no obligation to be realistic and perhaps one of the most exciting areas of artistic photography is surreal photography—a genre that flouts realism and revels in the strange. With the advent of digital tools surreal photographers today are bound only by their imaginations, locating their work at the forefront of expressive art. Each piece featured in this book represents a journey into the imagination, giving a wonderful insight into each photographer’s vision, and hopefully inspiring you to create your own surreal masterpiece.
In this book we explore an entire range of surrealistic techniques, from compositing images to studio shooting to phoneography. Your perfect workflow can only be made for you, by you, but by giving you an understanding of all of the options out there I hope to make finding that ideal easier for you.
Surrealism is the fusion of the conscious with the subconscious, of dream and fantasy with the rational and the mundane, to create a world where anything is possible. As André Breton described it, it’s the creation of “… an absolute reality, a surrealism.”
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SURREALISM
Surrealism is a political and literary movement that developed from Dadaism, itself an artistic reaction to the horrors of World War One. Surrealism was influenced by Sigmund Freud’s exploration of the subconscious and also Karl Marx’s theories on class and revolution. The surrealists questioned the wisdom of blindly following societal expectations into “rational destruction,” of which was the War was an example. In the view of the surrealists, real meaning lay in the human subconscious. Their pursuit of the surreal in their art and writing was intended to unleash the subconscious from repressive realism. While it was Guillaume Apollinaire who coined the term “surrealist” in 1917, it was André Breton who laid down the principles of the movement in a manifesto in 1924.
However, surrealism did not remain a radical, avant-garde political movement for very long. By the 1930s, surrealist art had breached the mainstream and its influence was felt in the theater, in fashion, in design, and in particular in advertising. This new dreamlike interpretation of the world that challenged notions of rationalist thought, headed up by the likes of Juan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, and René Magritte, became widely celebrated and explored.
This book draws on the expertise of some of the most talented and innovative people in the business of image manipulation to present their surreal photographs and walk you through how they were made. They have prepared some fantastic showcases, supported by equally useful step-by-step explanations.
But that’s not all. We’ll also look at how you can turn a simple cameraphone shot into a swirling, otherworldly image at the swipe of a finger, and how to use whatever camera you have to create surreal photographs with the help of lenses, filters, and timing. We’ll even go a little retro and explore the possibilities of using film cameras to create surreal universes.
Surreal photography can be as far removed from reality as you want it to be; it can be a five-degree, or a five-mile shift away from the real world, and you can achieve either with whatever camera you have on hand. It doesn’t matter if your camera is your cellphone or the latest wonder-machine. What’s important is the richness and depth of your imagination.
Relax by Maria Kaimaki