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Full Version: Erik Johansson: Impossible photography
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I'm quite a fan of TED talks - if you haven't heard of them, basically it's a biannual conference where speakers and experts in their field, present their ideas in an open forum. Most of the talks are bite sized and can be quite thought provoking.

This one by Erik Johansson showcases his talent for making "impossible" images -- basically taking photos and manipulating them to create realistic looking yet naturally impossible images. I love his statement that for most photographers, the creative process ends after the shutter is pressed. For him, it's only the beginning.

http://www.ted.com/talks/erik_johansson_...raphy.html

His 3 simple rules when combining photos:

- photos combined should have the same perspective
- photos should have the same light
- make it impossible to determine the seams between images

Anyway, it's a short 6 minute talk and well worth watching.
I get a feeling of the emperor's new clothes here. Isn't he just exploring, via digitised scissors and glue, playing with montage? His "rules" don't exactly unlock hidden arcana of knowledge, as they are just commonsense caveats. And: "most photographers,etc;..." Er..how is he privvy to the creative processes of other photographers...?...and , "ends after the shutter is pressed.."? Goodness...really?