Naked Geology: Carl Warner's Surreal landscapes Created from naked Bodies
British photographer and designer Carl Warner jokingly calls himself a "photographic illustrator". There is no more precise definition for his work, because Karl photographs objects familiar to all of us and turns them into fantastic illustrations. A few years ago, he became famous for his food landscapes, and in 2020 he presented to the audience his new project "Bodyscapes", dedicated to the human body.
However, with a cursory glance at the works from this series, it is not immediately clear what the body has to do with it, because the viewer sees intricate rocky and sandy landscapes similar to an alien landscape. But after a few seconds it becomes clear that the cliffs and sand dunes are muscular human bodies, on which light falls at carefully adjusted angles.
More precisely, Carl Warner used only one body. It's just that he photographed his sports model many times, and then superimposed images in a special sequence in a graphic editor. The name of the series of works is "Bodyscapes", accurately reflects their essence — in English, body is a body, and landscape is a landscape.
Mountains and rocks are made of elbows, knees and shoulders, plains and deserts are made of necks and backs, and sand dunes are a beautiful relief press. Warner said at the presentation of the project that the shooting was not difficult for him or for the model. It was only necessary to make sure that there were no traces of clothing on the skin and to set the light correctly.
Only one assistant helped Karl in his work, which delayed the work a little. The photographer refused additional help because of the intimate nature of the shooting — he did not want the guy who agreed to become a model to feel constrained.
As for the source of inspiration, Warner claims that he was prompted to create "Bodyscapes" by the scene of an orgy in the desert from the cult film of the hippie era "Zabriskie Point" (1970).
Despite the fact that Karl filmed nude, he does not consider the project "Bodyscapes" erotic. He jokingly calls it "geological", because first of all, when looking at the photographs, the viewer thinks about rocks, canyons and deserts.
Indonesian artist Rama Krishna Mukti Adi creates equally fascinating paintings using a digital camera and a photo editor.
Keywords: Muscles | Lighting | Landscape | Project | Surrealism | Body | Photographer | Photo artist