Tommy Ingberg

Tommy Ingberg

Tommy Ingberg was born in sweden in 1980 and is a self-taught photographer and visual artist. He works with photography and digital image editing, creating minimalistic and self-reflecting surreal photo montages which deal with human nature, feelings and thoughts.

Tommy leaves the interpretation of his work up to the viewers of his works but says in his artist for his series called "reality rearranged", "For me, surrealism is about trying to explain something abstract like a feeling or a thought, expressing the subconscious with a picture. The Reality Rearranged series is my first try at describing reality trough surrealism. During the two and a half years I have worked on the series I have used my own inner life, thoughts and feelings as seeds to my pictures. In that sense the work is very personal, almost like a visual diary. Despite this subjectiveness in the process I hope that the work can engage the viewer in her or his own terms. I want the viewers to produce their own questions and answers when looking at the pictures, my own interpretations are really irrelevant in this context. "

He has received international recognition and his work shown in numerous publications and receiving awards and honorable mentions from many different competitions including International Photography Awards.

Tommy has been creating since  he was a child. He's had  an early fascination with cameras. At some point he chose photography and ever since then he has been constantly photographing. However there was a point in Tommy's life where slowly and without really noticing it, he lost direction and began spiraling downwards until in his late twenties finally hit "some sort of bottom". 

 Deep down in his own personal "abyss" he found what art is for him. He started creating pictures. He stopped trying to make what others thought was “art” or “good photography” and made pictures just for himself.  By crossing that line he felt free to tell his stories, and by crossing the line from photography into photo montages he had the tools to do so.

In this he found something he loved doing and something he could be proud of. He found a purpose. It has not been an easy journey, life seldom is, but I’ve kept on climbing.He believes this is the awesome thing about life. Without the bad you can’t have the really good. He believes without living through the bad things, he would not have found his art.

This is his artist statement for his art series called; Solitaire

"Solitaire" is my second series of surreal pictures after "Reality Rearranged". In this series I keep exploring how to visualize abstract concepts like feelings or thoughts, how to express the subconscious with pictures. 

I think "Solitaire" is a suitable title for this kind of work. The stuff that goes on inside your mind, like your thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams and decision-making are something that in its essence is yours alone. It is a game you play by yourself, like a game of solitaire. 

Despite this I do think the concepts and thoughts born in self reflection are universal for all of us, we all carry the same set of feelings inside us, and we all in our own way search for answers, trying to make sense of life, the world and being. 
I want my pictures to connect to the viewer on this basic level and invite to reflection and I hope you can find something in them that in some way connects to your own game of solitaire.

http://www.ingberg.com/default.aspx?Page=view_artwork&PID=52

Post by Jackie

Joel Robison

Joel Robison (boy_wonder, as he's known as on Flickr) is a self taught, conceptual portrait photographer. He grew up and is currently based in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada. Robison has always been interested in art and expressing himself. He only started becoming interested in photography over 4 years ago and has already made an impact in the photography world.

Torn

Robison's work is know to primarily feature self portraits which have been taken in the vast expanse of the British Columbian wilderness. Living in a small town, it is often hard to find people willing to be in his conceptual photographs. Robison heavily relies on himself in his photographs to express his personal thoughts and ideas. Using himself as the model helps him to illustrate those ideas best.

Robison said "It certainly is easier to take your time and really plan out an idea when you're not worrying about instructing or directing another person. I usually plan out each shoot with a brief story written down, then I draw out the photo in a sketchbook and try to figure out the location, angle and everything I might need to enhance or support the photo."
http://explorecreaterepeat.com/articles/interviews-joel-robison

Robison began taking self portraits because he was self conscious about being a photographer. "I didn't think people would understand my concepts or want to participate in something that wasn't "traditional" photography."

However, over the past couple of years Robison has branched out to work with other people and is incorporating them more frequently into his photographs. "I really enjoy being able to use myself in a variety of images to show that one person can be interpreted or photographed in a variety of ways, but I also love being able to capture someone else’s emotions and personality in a photograph." http://phlearn.com/phlearn-interviews-joel-robison

Remnants

Light Harvest

You can't come across Robison's photographs and not go on a magical journey. Whether it be cycling through the sky or being in the land Where The Wild Things Are, you can't help but find yourself lost in the magical worlds he creates.

We Are All Wild Things Now

Flying Contraption

Closing One Chapter

Robison seems to enjoy creating whimsical worlds where size, scale, movement and functions that don't play by the rules as we know. Some of Robison's photographs also depict scenes from novels. These photographs give the viewer a chance to both interpret Robison's idea in the photo and also come up with their own version of the story. It also gives a chance to have an open conversation around his work because not everyone's interpretation will be the same. Robison "really likes to express stories through photos because it gives a balance between literature and art." 

Shadowland

Much of Robison's work is shot using the Brenizer Method.

The Brenizer Method is a photographic technique developed by wedding photographer Ryan Brenizer. It allows for the creation of an image exhibiting a shallow depth of field in tandem with a wide angle of view by use of panoramic stitching techniques in portraiture.

Using the Brenizer Method it allows you to piece together the photographs the way you want them to look. Robison has "always been attracted to art with negative space." This is evident in his photographs as he includes open areas in his photos. This allows the photo to be uncluttered and allows the use of space to help interpret the story.

Lift Me Up

Robison is constantly creating new photographs. He finds inspiration through his thoughts, fears, goals and dreams with other people. Robison also stays inspired by connecting with other artists who have a similar style as him. "I create because I like to show a part of my world or myself and that's what motivates me to keep working."

If Joel Robison has inspired you, like he has inspired me here is a piece of advice he would give to aspiring photographers. "Learn everything that your camera does and how you can change the settings depending on the photos that you want to take and the environment that you're in. Take pictures of everything and try new things to develop your style."

Imagination is the Treasure

If you wish to see more of Joel Robison's work here is his website. http://joelrobison.com/

 Posted By Jess

Erik Johansson

Erik Johansson is a well known photographer who has inspired many people. I've only just recently discovered Johansson's work and immediately fell in love and became inspired by his talent and unique style. Johansson creates surreal photographs and portrays them in a realistic way with a touch of humor. Johansson is self taught in both photography and retouching and has been working with clients such as Google, Adobe and Microsoft. I am inspired by how far Johansson has come from being a self taught photographer and he has inspired me to try new techniques with my photographs.

Set Them Free

A few examples of his work are; Cover up, Drifting Away, Expecting Winter and Set Them Free. Only to name a few. The first photograph I saw of his that caught my eye was Set Them Free. I never knew it was by Johansson. But once I found out who it was by, it inspired me to research him some more.

Here's a little more about him. Johansson is a full time photographer and retoucher from Sweden based in Berlin, Germany. Johansson has worked on both personal and commissioned projects and he sometimes creates street illusions. Johansson has stated " I don't capture moments, I capture ideas."  Johansson has always been a creative person. From an early age Johansson has liked to draw. He also became interest in computers which allowed him to escape into other worlds. At the age of 15, Johansson received his first digital camera which opened up a new world for him. Johansson has said "Being used to drawing, it felt quite strange to be done after capturing a photo, it wasn't the process of creating something in the same way. Having an interest in computers, it made it quite a natural step to start playing around with the photos and creating something that you couldn't capture with the camera. It was a great way of learning, learning by trying."

Johansson moved to Gothenburg in 2005 to study Computer Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. During his time there, Johansson took up his interest of retouching. Johansson published some work online and started to get request about commissioned work. Johansson started out freelancing in parallel with his studies. Once completing his studies, Johansson graduated with a Master in Interaction Design. After that, Johansson wanted to try the photography path and move to the Eastern part of Sweden and worked full time as a freelance photographer. In 2012 Johansson moved to Berlin. Johansson has said that " Berlin is a very artistic city, with lots of inspiration."  Which is where he is based today.

Johansson has spoken at the TED conference and the Adobe MAX conference. And as mentioned before, Johansson has been working with clients such as Google, Adobe and Microsoft but his personal work and concepts will always be what's most important to him. Johansson has said that "Growing up on the Swedish countryside had a big impact on my visual style. A lot of the environments in my photos are captured near places I know, around my parents’ home with wide open landscapes and small red houses. Inspiration is everywhere and what you can imagine is what you can create. Inspire, be inspired" -Erik Johansson.

Here is some work Johansson created for Google and Adobe.

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If you would like to know more about Erik Johansson or would like to see some more of his work, check out this link. http://erikjohanssonphoto.com/

Posted By Jess.