At first glance one might be fooled by looking at the work of Ruud van Empel, but you quickly realise that you’re not faced with reality… is it photo? a painting? neither, really. The Dutch artist creates photorealistic digital montages by combining hundreds of his own images. Van Empel tried his hand at painting, but did not possess ‘the craftmanship to create realistic painting’ – which is what lead him to digital photographic manipulation. Created with a singular artistic vision, van Empel builds vibrant photomontages of fascinatingly fabricated realities. Strange Beauty features over 40 of van Empel’s digitally enhanced pieces, displaying images of perfect beauty with mysterious and captivating undertones. Van Empel constructs his works through staged photography, digital enhancement and collage. His modern technique and composition is a product of an artistic journey, which spanned graphic design, theater and television. Hence, each image holds a distinctly theatrical air. The process takes many weeks and originates with a single idea. Van Empel first takes photographs of models and various settings, then merges them with images from a large database of pictures he has compiled over time, gradually developing a single image. The resulting picture is extremely high resolution, allowing him to obtain large-format prints of extraordinary quality and detail. For more information, to buy his art works or to get in touch with the artist, we invite you to follow the link bellow the pictures.
