Erik Johansson is a man operating on the furthest and sharpest edge of reality. He creates manipulated images that shock with their casual juxtaposition of the mundane and the otherworldly, for which he has already gained universal acclaim at the tender age of 23. We interrupted his tennis watching for a few words.


Hi Erik. How would you describe your style?

My goal is to make pictures as realistic as possible, but at the same time impossible. Many photographers try to look weird, so I try to make my shots as plausible as possible. I would say I try to use humour a lot and I rarely have a didactic message. Sometimes I want to tell something, but mostly I want people to interpret.

What kind of reactions do you tend to get? Do children cry?

A lot of young people think they're fascinating but the older generation don't really believe in Photoshop. They think photos should be a pure image. Myself, I'm never satisfied with them but I think that's a healthy instinct.

Nackdelen Med att hacka fort

Do you have a favourite?

If I had to choose I'd say the one of the guy pulling the road.


Go your own road

Our current issue is themed around Myth, do you believe in any crazy folklore?

Hard to say whether I definitely do or don't believe in anything. When I lived at my parent's big old house in the countryside my grandmother used to tell me there were ghosts in the basement. My room was the nearest to the basement so I was worried.


Roadworker's coffeebreak

More from Erik here.