Erik Johansson is a Swedish photographer and retoucher based in Berlin who is well known on the Internet for his amazing surreal photo manipulations that show everyday scenes with major twists. A number of his works are optical illusions created by manipulating and combining images in creative ways.
The image above is one of Johansson’s more recent works. It’s titled “The Architect” and shows a man searching for inspiration in an impossible house.
Here are some of Johansson’s other pieces — both personal and commissioned — that contain mind-bending optical illusions created with photos in Photoshop:
These next three were created for the TAC (Transport Accident Commission) to show the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs:
This last one is titled “Closing Out,” and it comes with a behind-the-scenes video showing how it was made, from sketch to final image:
To hear Johansson talk about his photo manipulation work, check out this TED talk he gave a few years ago. You can also find more of his work over on his website.
Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with a Nikon D850. I do unpaid TFP and commercial paid work.