These surreal images of fantasy structures are not in fact photographs, but digital compositions which represent the art of Portland based Jim Kazanjian. He creates them by searching through thousands of random images, none of which were taken by him, and chooses objects, scenery and bits of buildings which he then uses to ‘construct’ his fantastic buildings.
The absolute impossibility of the houses suggest the title of his series, An Architect Gone Mad, and there is in fact an element of insanity within the images, more connected to nightmare than fairytale. Their apparent credibility stretches the perception of the viewer to accept an alternative representation of reality, either structurally or topographically.
Not unsurprisingly, his inspiration comes from writers of weird fiction, of which he says: ‘I am intrigued with the narrative archetypes they use to de-familiarize the familiar’.
