TEDSalon London Fall 2011
Erik Johansson: Impossible photography
Erik Johansson: Fotografía imposible
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Erik Johansson crea fotografías realistas de escenas imposibles; captura ideas, non momentos. Nestes consellos enxeñosos, o mago do Photoshop describe os principios que usa para dar vida a estes escenarios fantásticos, conseguindo mantelos visualmente plausibles.
Erik Johansson - Photographer and retoucher
Photographer Erik Johansson creates impossible but photorealistic images that capture an idea, not a moment. Full bio
Photographer Erik Johansson creates impossible but photorealistic images that capture an idea, not a moment. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I'm here to share my photography.
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Estou aquí para compartir 'a miña' fotografía.
00:19
Or is it photography?
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Isto é fotografía?
00:22
Because, of course, this is a photograph
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Porque, claro, esta é unha fotografía
00:24
that you can't take with your camera.
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que non poden sacar coas súas cámaras.
00:26
Yet, my interest in photography started
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Con todo, o meu interese pola fotografía
00:28
as I got my first digital camera
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comezou cando conseguín a miña primeira cámara dixital
00:30
at the age of 15.
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aos 15 anos.
00:33
It mixed with my earlier passion for drawing,
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Mesturouse coa miña paixón anterior polo debuxo,
00:35
but it was a bit different,
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mais foi un pouco diferente,
00:37
because using the camera,
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porque ao empregar a cámara
00:39
the process was in the planning instead.
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o proceso estaba máis ben na planificación.
00:42
And when you take a photograph with a camera,
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E cando un saca unha fotografía cunha cámara,
00:45
the process ends when you press the trigger.
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o proceso termina cando se preme o pulsador.
00:49
So to me it felt like photography was more about
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Para min a fotografía tiña máis que ver
00:51
being at the right place and the right time.
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con estar no lugar idóneo, no momento idóneo.
00:54
I felt like anyone could do that.
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Parecíame que calquera o podía facer.
00:57
So I wanted to create something different,
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Por iso quería crear algo diferente,
01:00
something where the process starts
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algo onde o proceso comezase
01:02
when you press the trigger.
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ao premer o pulsador.
01:05
Photos like this:
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Fotos coma esta:
01:07
construction going on along a busy road.
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unha construción nunha estrada moi transitada.
01:09
But it has an unexpected twist.
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Pero ten un xiro inesperado.
01:12
And despite that,
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E, a pesar disto,
01:14
it retains a level of realism.
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mantén un nivel de realismo.
01:17
Or photos like these --
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Ou fotos coma estas...
01:20
both dark and colorful,
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escuras e coloridas á vez
01:23
but all with a common goal
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pero todas co obxectivo común
01:25
of retaining the level of realism.
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de manter o nivel de realismo.
01:27
When I say realism,
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Cando digo realismo
01:29
I mean photo-realism.
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digo foto-realismo.
01:31
Because, of course,
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Porque, claro,
01:33
it's not something you can capture really,
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non é algo que poida ser realmente capturado
01:36
but I always want it to look like it could have been captured somehow
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pero eu sempre quero que pareza que foi capturado dalgún xeito
01:39
as a photograph.
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como una fotografía.
01:41
Photos where you will need a brief moment to think
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Fotos nas que un terá que pensar un momento
01:44
to figure out the trick.
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para descubrir o truco.
01:46
So it's more about capturing an idea
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Entón isto ten máis que ver con capturar unha idea
01:48
than about capturing a moment really.
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que con capturar un momento realmente.
01:51
But what's the trick
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Pero, cal é o truco
01:53
that makes it look realistic?
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que as fai parecer reais?
01:55
Is it something about the details
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Ten que ver cós detalles
01:57
or the colors?
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ou coas cores?
01:59
Is it something about the light?
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Ten que ver coa luz?
02:02
What creates the illusion?
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Qué é o que crea a ilusión?
02:06
Sometimes the perspective is the illusion.
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As veces a perspectiva é a ilusión.
02:09
But in the end, it comes down to how we interpret the world
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Pero ao final trátase do noso xeito de interpretar o mundo
02:12
and how it can be realized on a two-dimensional surface.
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e como pode ser percibido nunha superficie bidimensional.
02:15
It's not really what is realistic,
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En realidade non trata de se é realista
02:17
it's what we think looks realistic really.
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senón do que pensamos que é realista.
02:21
So I think the basics
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Por iso creo que os fundamentos
02:23
are quite simple.
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son moi sinxelos.
02:25
I just see it as a puzzle of reality
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Eu véxoo coma un crebacabezas da realidade
02:28
where you can take different pieces of reality and put it together
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no que tomamos diferentes pezas da realidade e as xuntamos
02:31
to create alternate reality.
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para crear unha realidade alternativa.
02:34
And let me show you a simple example.
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Déixenme amosarlles un sinxelo exemplo.
02:37
Here we have three perfectly imaginable physical objects,
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Aquí temos tres obxectos físicos perfectamente imaxinables,
02:41
something we all can relate to living in a three-dimensional world.
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algo que todos podemos relacionar con vivir nun mundo tridimensional.
02:44
But combined in a certain way,
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Pero combinados de certo modo
02:47
they can create something that still looks three-dimensional,
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poden crear algo que aínda parece tridimensional;
02:51
like it could exist.
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como se poidese existir.
02:53
But at the same time, we know it can't.
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Pero, ao mesmo tempo, sabemos que non pode existir.
02:56
So we trick our brains,
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Así, enganamos aos nosos cerebro
02:58
because our brain simply doesn't accept the fact
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porque o cerebro simplemente non acepta o feito
03:00
that it doesn't really make sense.
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de que iso realmente non ten sentido.
03:02
And I see the same process
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E vexo o mesmo proceso
03:05
with combining photographs.
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ao combinar fotografías.
03:08
It's just really about combining different realities.
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Realmente consiste en combinar realidades diferentes.
03:12
So the things that make a photograph look realistic,
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Entón as cousas que fan que unha fotografía pareza realista,
03:16
I think it's the things that we don't even think about,
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creo que son esas nas que nin sequera pensamos;
03:19
the things all around us in our daily lives.
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as cousas que nos arrodean na nosa vida diaria.
03:23
But when combining photographs,
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Pero cando combinamos fotografías,
03:25
this is really important to consider,
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é realmente importante ter en conta isto.
03:27
because otherwise it just looks wrong somehow.
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Porque do contrario parecerá raro dalgún xeito.
03:31
So I would like to say that there are three simple rules to follow
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Por iso me gustaría dicir que hai tres reglas sinxelas que seguir
03:34
to achieve a realistic result.
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para lograr resultados realistas.
03:37
As you can see, these images aren't really special.
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Como poden ver, estas imaxes non son moi especiais.
03:40
But combined, they can create something like this.
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Pero combinadas, poden crear algo coma isto.
03:47
So the first rule is that photos combined
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Así que a primeira regla é que as fotos combinadas
03:49
should have the same perspective.
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deben de ter a mesma perspectiva.
03:51
Secondly, photos combined
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Segundo, as fotos combinadas
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should have the same type of light.
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deben de ter o mesmo tipo de luz.
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And these two images both fulfill these two requirements --
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E estas dúas imaxes cumpren con estes requisitos;
03:59
shot at the same height and in the same type of light.
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foron sacadas á mesma altura e co mesmo tipo de luz.
04:03
The third one is about making it impossible to distinguish
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O terceiro punto trata de facer imposible distinguir
04:06
where the different images begin and end
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onde comezan e rematan as distintas imaxes
04:09
by making it seamless.
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cunha unión perfecta.
04:12
Make it impossible to say
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Ten que ser imposible dicir
04:14
how the image actually was composed.
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como se compuxo a imaxe en realidade.
04:16
So by matching color, contrast and brightness
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Facendo coincidir a cor, o contraste e o brillo
04:20
in the borders between the different images,
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nos bordes que hai entre as diferentes imaxes,
04:22
adding photographic defects
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engadindo defetos fotográficos
04:24
like depth of field,
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como profundidade de campo,
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desaturated colors and noise,
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cores desaturadas e ruído,
04:29
we erase the borders between the different images
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borramos os límites entre as distintas imaxes
04:31
and make it look like one single image,
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e facemos que pareza unha soa imaxe,
04:34
despite the fact that one image
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a pesar do feito de que unha soa imaxe
04:36
can contain hundreds of layers basically.
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en realidade pode ter centos de capas.
04:40
So here's another example.
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Este é outro exemplo.
04:43
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
04:45
One might think that this is just an image of a landscape
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Podería pensarse que isto é a imaxe dunha paisaxe
04:48
and the lower part is what's manipulated.
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e a parte inferior é o que foi manipulado.
04:51
But this image is actually entirely composed
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Pero esta imaxe está totalmente composta
04:54
of photographs from different locations.
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por fotografías de distintos lugares.
04:57
I personally think that it's easier to actually create a place
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Personalmente penso que é máis fácil en realidade crear un lugar
05:00
than to find a place,
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que atopalo,
05:02
because then you don't need to compromise
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porque un non precisa comprometer
05:04
with the ideas in your head.
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as ideas que ten na cabeza.
05:06
But it does require a lot of planning.
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Pero isto require moita planificación.
05:09
And getting this idea during winter,
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E como pensei esta idea no inverno,
05:11
I knew that I had several months to plan it,
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sabía que tiña varios meses para a planificar,
05:13
to find the different locations
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para atopar os distintos lugares
05:15
for the pieces of the puzzle basically.
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para as pezas do crebacabezas.
05:18
So for example,
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Por exemplo,
05:20
the fish was captured on a fishing trip.
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o peixe foi capturado nunha saída a pescar.
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The shores are from a different location.
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As costas son dunha ubicación diferente.
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The underwater part was captured in a stone pit.
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A parte subacuática foi capturada nun pozo de pedra.
05:28
And yeah, I even turned the house on top of the island red
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E si, mesmo fixen vermella a casa do cumio da illa
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to make it look more Swedish.
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para que asemellase máis sueca.
05:34
So to achieve a realistic result,
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Así que para lograr un resultado realista,
05:36
I think it comes down to planning.
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creo que fai falla planificación.
05:39
It always starts with a sketch, an idea.
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Sempre se comeza cun boceto, unha idea.
05:43
Then it's about combining the different photographs.
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Logo hai que combinar as diferentes fotografías.
05:46
And here every piece is very well planned.
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E aquí cada peza está moi ben pensada.
05:49
And if you do a good job capturing the photos,
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Se un fai un bo traballo ao tomar as fotos
05:52
the result can be quite beautiful
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o resultado pode ser moi fermoso
05:54
and also quite realistic.
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e á vez moi realista.
05:58
So all the tools are out there,
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Todas as ferramentas están aí,
06:02
and the only thing that limits us
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e o única cousa que nos limita
06:05
is our imagination.
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é a nosa imaxinación.
06:09
Thank you.
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Grazas.
06:11
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Erik Johansson - Photographer and retoucherPhotographer Erik Johansson creates impossible but photorealistic images that capture an idea, not a moment.
Why you should listen
Erik Johansson is a self-taught photograher who learned how to retouch photos to make impossible and extraordinary images. Growing up with a grandmother who painted and a penchant for escaping into the other worlds of video games, he naturally blended the two into a technique using computers to generate images that couldn't be captured by a camera.
Erik Johansson | Speaker | TED.com