Winner in Fotosidan’s Photo challange 2008 theme: “Dreams”

Photo manipulations done well are an amazing new art form. They give a realistic view of an unrealistic world. Erik Johansson, a 23-year-old computer engineering student, from Sweden is a photoshop prodigy with off-the-charts levels of ingenuity. His works takes us to an entirely new dimension of reality.  (Pics)

“Go your own road”

1. First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time to provide impactlab.com with this interview. Please tell us more about your art and design background and what made you become an artist and designer?

I am studying computer engineering and right now I am studying my masters program in Interaction Design. It is about how to interact with the user and make computers more user friendly. It does not have much to do with me photographing, that is something I discovered later. I got my first digital camera when I turned 15, I did some changes to the photos and thought it was fun. But I really started in 2007 when I bought my first SLR camera. That is when I started to do some serious photo manipulations.

“Deep Cuts”

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“Fishy Island”

2. Your manipulations are pretty unique and full of creativity. Where does your inspiration come from? How do you come up with the ideas?

That is a hard question because I can’t really tell. The inspiration is everywhere in the daily life, but I also look a lot at photos and drawings on the web. I think the most important thing is to make a note of every idea, otherwise it will might be gone in a few seconds.

“Melting Point”

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“Perspective Squarecase”

3. Could you describe for us your typical ’start to finish’ workflow when working on a design?

I always have a sketch of the final idea. But it always end up different, in a good way mostly. When I have come up with an idea I try to find good spots to use for the photos and then it’s time for the photoshopping. The time it takes differ, but somewhere between 10 – 20 hours for each photo.

“Attractive Streetlights”

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“Heaven Express”

4. What are your tools of the trade, both hardware and software?

My camera is a Canon eos 40d mostly used with the Canon 17-40/4L. The computer I use has a Intel i7 processor, 6 gb ram and a Asus Radion 4850, the monitor I use is a Eizo 22″. For the software part I use Vista 64-bit and Photoshop cs4, no 3d-software.

“Roadworkers Coffeebreak”

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“Reflective Cubes”

5. What, for you personally are the pros and cons of being a designer?

It’s hard to always be creative, but it is a creative job.

“Tetris”

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“Homo sapiens”

6. How does your job as an artist and designer influence your life? Do you feel that you see things around you differently for example?

Yes, sometimes I get stuck in thinking about what kind of ideas I could do with the things I see around me. But I have learned to relax more now.

“Swedish Airhouse”

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“Face vs. Fist”

7. What are your coming projects?

The future will tell, but I might need a fish in one of the projects. I also have an idea about streetlights that I probably will realize soon.

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8. What are your favourite 5 websites, and why?

Tricky question…

• Fotosidan.se – a swedish photo community
• Moderskeppet.se – a swedish photoshop website
• Deviantart.com – good for inspiration
• Worth1000.com – good for inspiration
• smhi.se – the swedish weather service, important to see if it’s photo or photoshop weather (-:

“The Room”

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“Question Architecture”

9. Once again , thank you very much for the interview. As a final word, do you have any tips for upcoming artists and designers?

Trying is a good way of learning, that is how I have learned most of the things I know. Thank you too.

“Arms break, vases don’t”

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Third place in Fotosidan’s Photo challange 2008 theme: “No limits”

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“Strange Forest”

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Winner in scandinavian photo’s photo challange 2007

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Self portrait of Erik Johansson

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“Escalator in the sky”

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“Shaving is for boys”

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Self portrait of Erik Johansson

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Self portrait of Erik Johansson

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Self portrait of Erik Johansson

Where to find Erik Johansson on the web

www.alltelleringet.com – Personal website

http://www.fotosidan.se/…./98073 – His profile in a swedish community

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