Today on the blog, we meet with an award-winning photographer and digital artist who uses DIY techniques to create unique and dark stories: Juhamatti Vahdersalo.

Follow Juhamatti's imagination in a path that includes Superman, Zombies, and a cloud-creating mill!

Discover his artworks in 18 photos powered by Prodibi!




A few words about you, how did you start photography?

I started to photograph in 2015. I am very artistic persona, and when my past hobby in the music scene slowly ended, I found that photography and digital art fills the needs that composing music left behind. I studied very hard on my own by reading articles and tutorials and then could quite quickly raise my skills to the next level.






I am also quite a competitive person so I started to participate in different photography competitions in the same year I started photographing. I had some success before too, but this year I won the FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year title which is an amazing achievement. These things along the creativity keeps me going.






You excel at surreal photography and composition, what do you like best about these genres? Are there other styles you would like to photograph and explore more?

The best thing about surreal photography is that there are no limitations. My style is a strong mixture of conceptual storytelling and dark humor, so I think that surreal art is just the thing for me. It is also such a broad category to create, I don't think I have to explore other genres at least not on my projects.





Can you briefly explain your process for producing such images?

My projects always start with sketches. I use Photoshop to draw the different ideas that are in my head so I can see if they work in “real life.” When the sketch is done, I start building the props and the scene if needed. Construction is the part that takes most of the time. My garage is full of pieces of wood and plastic, that’s my huge treasure chest when I’m starting to create all kinds of props. If I don’t have the exact piece, I planned on using, I still usually have something to replace it.





Having this “box of tools” means I don’t have to think about buying materials to start creating. That’s a big thing for me, especially if I suddenly have some free time or some instant inspiration that demands to be created.






Read on: Twisting reality into surreality, you can dream with open eyes with Mati Gelman

Where do you find inspiration?

I get inspirations everywhere. It can be some grievance I've seen heard or read. Tv, newspaper, radio, Internet are full of topics to go through and twist them on a new perspective. I like to find ideas that are somewhat provocative because they make viewers think and maybe find their own perspective to it.





Also, interesting people inspire me, most of my portraits I´ve taken have some kind of a story behind them. I also think a good picture has multiple meanings.




About your photography gears, what are your favorite tools?

I have Nikon D610 and sigma art lenses. I mostly use Godox products on my light setups. Postprocessing is done with Photoshop.




To see more from Juhamatti:

His Website
Facebook
Instagram
Youtube

All photographs copyright Juhamatti Vahdersalo and used with his permission.

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