Traveling photographer Thomas Barbéy uses his keen, artistic eye to see the world a little differently than the rest of us. Along his travels, Barbéy proceeds to capture a variety of scenic images, still life, and portraiture, mixing and matching them all into some wildly creative composites. His resulting manipulated photo montages reveal a new world that feels both familiar and unusual.
The photographer’s body of work has a sense of humor to it as it whimsical juxtaposes two unrelated subjects. While one wouldn’t automatically notice the resemblance between an elephant and a tree, the photographer makes it hard to ever look at a tree again without seeing the likeness in their wrinkly, coarse skin/bark. They also both have trunks.
Barbéy also plays with perspective in a lot of his work. He even incorporates a multi-angle technique that artist M.C. Escher, one of his artistic idols, would be proud of. Drawing much of his inspiration from surrealist painters like Escher as well as Rene Magritte and Roger Dean, the photographer also ironically attributes the concept for his atypical creations to everyday life. He says, “Visionary inspiration and imagination is not a technical skill learned in school.”
Thomas Barbey was born in Konnektikkute in 1957. When he was only six months old his family moved to Europe, where Thomas grew up and was educated. After Italy and Germany, he lived in Switzerland for 17 years. For the second year left Geneva University to pursue a career in the music business.
Following its successful introduction in the Italian music charts, he moved to Italy and stayed there for 15 years, where he successfully made a career in the music business, and the photo was a favorite hobby. Imbued with the European spirit, Thomas became interested in not only photography, but also the geometric aesthetic of Escher and Magritte.
From that moment he began his dizzying career conceptual photographer, creating worlds, beautiful and frightening his surreal. In the early 90’s, he has owned a successful fashion-photo studio, and in 1995 he moved back to the U.S..
Thomas Barbey today lives and works with his wife Suzanne in Las Vegas. His wife is a business partner, and the Barbe creates surreal black-and-white images, which calls “photomixage”.
“The inspiration for my work I draw from the experience of many years of traveling around the world, daily life, as well as from your favorite artists, such as Roger Dean. I always carry a few cameras. “
“The process begins with a montage of concept. Then I choose the negatives that will be used. “
span>”Then you create a draft of the future of work – I carefully choose the printing process. Superimposing negatives at each other, I print them all at once.Also plays a big role here prepared beforehand double exposure, photo retouching and / or a combination of all of the above. “
“I sometimes retouch and / or use a brush on the collages before perefotografirovat them. Then I create a negative control, to print some pictures. “
“While I am always asked how I do it, I’d like people to just look at these pictures without puzzling technical side.”
“Visual inspiration and imagination – this is not a technical skill that is taught in school, and my personality, a gift from God, if you will.”
“This is the only way how I can explain, where are my ideas.”
