Photographic Illusions Take You Inside The Surreal World Of Logan Zillmer

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Conceptual photographer Logan Zillmer captures surreal images with a healthy mix of DIY lighting equipment, jerry-rigged set pieces, and pure imagination—with just a dash of Photoshop to bring it all together. Similar to the physics-defying images of Erik Johansson, or Sandro Miller's Malkovich remixes, Zillmer goes out of his way to create surreal effects with and without the aid of CGI.

His diverse body of work is largely made up of images from the 365 Photo Challenge, the artistc crucible which forces artistic growth by prompting photographers to constantly create, by any means necessary. Zillmer's improvement through the challenge's trials and tribulations is evident in the complex concepts he pulls off, which range from artfully placed ladders, to flaming office chairs. "I shot this yesterday but I didn’t have time to edit it. This was an interesting shoot," Zillmer writes, in the description for 361/365 - The Trial." "I learned that burning vinyl is suffocating, even outdoors."

Zillmer's creative impulse has only grown since his 365 Photo Challenge ended in April. His latest photo, Untitled (Spur Series no. 3), features a man looking toward a shining square suspended over the horizon. His making-of photos show how he creates the shining square effect: Zillmer photographed an actual person holding a reflector, rather than creating a completely digital object. Prompted by the recent birth of his twins, he felt compelled to publish the image immediately. "A lot of people see [children] as the beginning of the end of one’s artistic life," he writes in the image description. "I see it as the opposite, an inspiration to create more and better art. A spur to keep going."

While some of his images convey ideas of isolation, such as The Trial, and corporate conformity, like untitled, we expect to see Zillmer to capture the surreal side of child-rearing in classic creative form.

Check out some of Zillmer's surreal images below:

Visit Logan Zillmer's website for more of his reality bending creations.

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