Constructing a Surreal Image

Composite / Collage / Montage

Surreal images are usually made by combining several images in interesting ways to make something look unreal. You can think of surreal as super real (something that could only exist in a super different world). Because surreal images sometimes involve combining others, they can be called 'composite' (which means to combine), collage (which means to layer) or montage (which means to edit / piece together).

Make photo composites in Photoshop

The two links below talk about how to create surreal images where you combine images together using Photoshop.

Craft surreal images using digital photomontage

How to make a photo composite in Adobe Photoshop

Combine Images using Layers on Photoshop

By using the layers panel on Photoshop, we can combine images together, similarly to when we did the Fallying, Flying, Floating project but this time, we are using photos from all different places. The link below steps you through this and the videos below show you some of the ways you might use this technique.

How to Use a Layer Mask in Photoshop

Collage

Sometimes, you may not want your image to look entirely realistic. Perhaps you may want to create something that looks more like an artwork or a designed graphic. A collage is when the layers aren't blended together to create something that looks like a real photo but when you combine different parts of photos to create something entirely new. You can do this using Photoshop and you can also do this by printing and cutting photos.

Cut & Paste Collage

Photoshop Collage

Blending Realistic Images

To create a more realistic image will require considering blending and lighting changes. The first video below shows you how to more simply place a person in a new environment. The second video shows a variety of the changes you can make to make a photo blend more realistic.

Change Background

Blending Images

Blending Tips for Beginners

Hyper Realistic World

If you want to create a surreal image that shows an entirely creative and new world, this takes a lot of layers. You could create a fantasy world, a science fiction futuristic world or a horror world. You should collect a variety of photos from different places to make this happen. One of the most important things to consider when creating something like this is where the light would come from in the image and make adjustments to your different photos so that they blend together.

Inspirational Resources

Pombeiro, J. (1999) 'Food' URL