Artist Uses A 110-Year-Old Cinema Technique To Create Surreal Photos

As much as Photoshop helps photographers unleash their creativity and edit faster, many are returning to traditional techniques to make a statement. Artist Suzanne Moxhay is using matte painting, a century-old cinema technique, to achieve surreal photos #fotomagic

Matte painting is the process of using paintings in movies, instead of creating elaborate sets or shooting on location. Studios found it easier and cheaper to create sets the old way, so the scene where Dorothy reaches Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz was done that way.

Now, artists Suzanne Moxhay is using matte painting in its surreal landscapes and interiors. Large sheets of glass are painted and then introduced in the rooms she plans to shoot, creating a weird juxtaposition. “Architectures are disrupted by anomalous elements – contradictory light sources, faulty perspective, paradoxes of scale. Light casts shadows in the wrong direction, walls fail to meet in corners”,  writes Suzanne about the concepts behind her photos.

You can find her entire portfolio for inspiration here and discover other creative approaches here and here.