Digital Nature Photographs by Simen Johan

Simen Johan was born in Kirkenes, in the extreme north of Norway. He moved to Höllviken, Sweden in 1979. After attending film school at Lugnetskolan in Falun, Sweden, Johan moved to New York City to continue his studies at the School of Visual Arts. He transferred to the photography program and studied under photographers Duane Michals,James Casebere, and Gregory Crewdson.

In 1993, Johan drew attention for his pioneering work merging digital manipulation with traditional darkroom techniques. At a time when digital photo processing was in its infancy, Johan found ways to exploit the medium beyond the boundaries of what was then considered possible. His images recombined fragments of faces and bodies (including his own) into new characters, which he then situated into similarly fabricated scenes.

In 2005, Johan shifted his focus towards the natural world, at the same time also beginning to create sculptural works. The images in his series “Until the Kingdom Comes” incorporate elements photographed in a wide variety of locations around the world, including both wild and captive animals.

The series on designboom here: http://www.designboom.com/art/simen-johan-digital-imaginary-animal-kingdom-03-30-2015/