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Surreal Photography Handout

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Surreal Photography

Objective:

To create a surrealistic photo using Adobe Photoshop to combine multiple images while maintaining a strong composition and engaging concept.

“Trapped,” Ben Haslam, 2013

Ever had a dream that just doesn't make sense? Surrealism, a cultural movement that began in post World War I Paris, was a way of taking unconscious thought, such as dreams, and putting them on paper. Writers, philosophers, artists and musicians across the globe adopted this philosophy to explore reality, dreams, and the unconscious mind.

Day 1: Intro to Surrealism & Composition

Surrealism uses the element of surprise and juxtaposition coupled with photorealism to engage the viewer in deeper thought. Your mind tells you it's not possible, but it looks realistic...

1920's, cultural & philosophical movement

Salvador Dali: Spanish, “Persistence of Memory”

Max Ernst: German, “Woman, Old Man & Flower”

Composition refers to the arrangement of objects/subjects on a page.

While we're viewing sample photographs, think about what YOU like or dislike about a photo. Why do certain arrangements work better than others?

Silhouettes, emotion, stories, macro (magnified) shots, interesting angles & points of view, changing the depth of field (whats in focus), capturing movement, creating mystery... All of these things can turn a regular snapshot into a work of art.

Rule of Thirds: The rule of thirds states that if you line subjects up along grid lines the image will be more appealing to the eye.

Things to avoid: out of focus, busy distracting backgrounds, telephone poles coming out of people's heads, awkward backlighting.

Activity: Create mini surrealistic collages using magazines, keeping composition in mind!

Physical collages work the same way that Photoshop does- using layers and having to cut around objects and paste them on top of each other.

Day 2: Working with Layers in Photoshop

In order to create surrealistic digital images, Photoshop can be used. Using the selection tools and the Layers function, you can cut and paste sections of photographs together in unnatural and surprising ways.

The selection tools that will be most helpful in cutting out your objects are located near the top of the menu bar. The Quick Selection Tool is probably going to be your new best friend.

To create a new layer in photoshop, you will want to select Layer from the menu bar, then New and then Layer. This creates a new layer to work in, which allows you move objects and edit them separately.

Below is an example of a finished surrealistic photo using 4 layers. The background is 1 layer, the color blocks are a 2^nd layer, the body and chair are a 3^rd layer, and the TV/head is a 4^th layer.

This student below made one simple change to make his photo more interesting. He used 1 additional layer to make it seem like he was looking at himself from another place. Surreal!

Your Task: Create your own surrealistic photograph.

• Take several photos to start with, you never know when one may work better than another.
• When taking these photos, remember what you know about composition. Are you experimenting with interesting lighting? Angles? Depths of Field?
• Upload your photos and bring into photoshop for editing.
• Using selection tools and layers, arrange elements from multiple photos into one to create a surreal image that fools the eye.
• You may need to make use of the Blur, clone, or healing tool to make your edges smooth and realistic.
• Submit finished photo!