Impossible images: The man who makes magic and madness from Photoshop
Argentinian Martin de Pasquale was just one year old when Photoshop was born into the world. But today -- on the image editing software's 25th birthday -- he's one of the finest surreal image-creators out there.
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
The University of Beunos Aires graduate has been manipulating digital images since buying his first professional digital camera seven years ago: "I opened up a new world -- the digital era," says de Pasquale.
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
"The essence of my photos is to visualize the physically impossible in a form of photo manipulation," he says by email from his studio in the Argentinian capital.
The self-taught visual artist and art director always hoped to use the technology to visualize the impossible: "I started using my pictures to tell stories, surreal words, and start to manipulate [them] with Photoshop. Nobody told me how to do it, [I] just did."
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
"Sometimes, I just like [creating images of] everyday aspects of life, and sometimes it is just humor," he says.
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
"I always carry with me my Notepad... When you have lots of information in mind, it is easier to connect dots and create things, returning home, walking down the street, looking at something at any time."
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
Many of his images find the artist in slightly altered states of consciousness: on the edge of sleep, overtaken by hunger, or struggling through the day's early hours.
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
"At night, when I go to sleep, is when I cannot disconnect my head and stop thinking. That creative moment I try to reflect in a photograph."
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
"For me, everything has to convey something, a feeling, an idea, a moment, a state."
The tech-wizard reveals he doesn't have a smartphone: "I see people trapped in vicious circles with technology, and I need to portray them, show them how they look," he says.
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
He hopes to make use of this technology creatively, rather than getting caught up in it. "I am a very basic person, and when I see people so dependent on technology, it seems strange to me."
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
De Pasquale's hope for the future of image editing is to see software such as Photoshop develop further into the third dimension (giving layers to more depth and volume), and perhaps allowing him to create even more complex illusions.
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
Asked what advice he has for the digital artists of the next 25 years, the young designer says that creativity matters more than technical skill. "The ideas are what they are, and what they are worth."
Courtesy Martin De Pasquale
Working in a team is helpful, too, he says. Beyond that, it is down to "perseverance and love for what you do."
"One has to believe in what he does, and be firm to this idea and be creative!"
courtesy martin de pasquale
For more of Martin de Pasquale's images, visit his website and follow him on Facebook.
![The self-taught visual artist and art director always hoped to use the technology to visualize the impossible: "I started using my pictures to tell stories, surreal words, and start to manipulate [them] with Photoshop. Nobody told me how to do it, [I] just did."](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/150218160300-cut.jpg?q=w_4650,h_3085,x_0,y_0,c_fill/h_447)
!["Sometimes, I just like [creating images of] everyday aspects of life, and sometimes it is just humor," he says.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/150218160630-nightfall.jpg?q=w_2657,h_1797,x_0,y_0,c_fill/h_447)
