by Editor Wicher Bos 

Stephen Shore says in 'The nature of Photography' (The Physical level): 'A photograph is flat, it has edges, and it is static; it doesn’t move.'  
Photography as a pictorial medium has its limits. As mentioned already the absence of depth, the frozen motion at the moment of capture, a single vantage point due to the single lens.
The nature of an artist is to challenge limits and create works of art beyond the limits that an artistic medium is said to have. Photographers also have done that since the invention of photography in the 19e century – creating illusions, reminding us of the ‘real thing itself’.

Here are some nice examples you can find in the 1x gallery

ILLUSION MULTIPLE VANTAGE POINTS (collage)

 

'Newborns' by Mikhail Batrak

'weightless flowers' by Anastasia Kovacevic

'4 times' by Ivan Marlianto

'Illusion Of Freedom' by Mikhail Batrak

'Bonus' by Mikhail Batrak

ILLUSION OF MOTION

'Playing with splash' by Angela Muliani Hartojo

'Postlude' by Mary Kay

'Blood Like Lemonade' by Paulo Abrantes

'Like a flash' by Lou Urlings

 
ILLUSION OF DEPTH BY PERSPECTIVE LINES (differences in contrast and sharpness)

 

'lines in black cube' by Antonio Caluori

'Depth of Sadness' by radin badrnia

'Stairs in high key' by Adolfo Urrutia

'Persevere' by Virginie Van Baelen

Magnificent pictures and successful illusions each of them…
However, there are artists that go even beyond the common solutions…

Kensuke Koike  is a good example, I discovered his work while visiting a “Paper Art” exhibition (Coda museum -Apeldoorn, NL). The exhibition topic was paper and of course you expect to find some printed photographs there - but the work of Kensuke Koike brought a smile to my face and made me aware of the limits of the photographic medium, and it triggered this magazine article.

The museum introduced his work as: Kensuke Koike selects a photo or a postcard and sets to work by tearing, snipping, cutting, and sometimes by rearranging parts. He creates a new image and often also new meaning. Nothing is added to his work, it is merely altered. His choice to not add anything is a conscious one. He wants to draw everything from that one, single object. He does apply various tools; a scalpel or scissors, but sometimes also a pasta maker. His interventions lead to a new perspective on what was already there, often humorous or ironic, but sometimes more serious.

He finds ways to defy the accepted limits of a printed photograph. I made some snapshots just to be able to show it to you. But in fact, in some cases you need to see the short videos on his personal website, to get the full idea.

Flat surface – no limit for him.  By cutting and styling you get whole new idea about the item.

 
Tones - small parts punched out and used to create totally new photographic illusion

Frozen movement – look at this…
Where he cuts the car in such a way that it can actually move up and down ;)

Distortion – most photographers make it an effort to avoid it, for Koike cutting and distorting brings about new shapes and views...

Obviously, no real comparable photos found on 1x.com, one could even ask: is it photography? To me, it seems more a sculpture – not of marble, but a printed photograph- or something in between.
Yet, I found an image that for me shows intentional distortion and it is beautiful…

 

'Distorsion' by Byka Artography

Anyway, I thought as photography community you might find pleasure in Koike’s work too, so I share my joy ;)

https://www.kensukekoike.com
Twitter: @k_koi
Instagram: @kensukekoike

Just a thought to end this article: Not too long ago we had a nice magazine article in which it was suggested to
'Print at least 12 photos a year'.  What to do after you have enough of the prints?  Perhaps you can find new use for the ones of last year ;-)

Wicher