Stanislav Aristov / Станислав Аристов, 1982 | Flame art

Russian🎨 photographer Stanislav Aristov / Станислав Аристов, better known by his moniker Pol Tergejst is an artist from Ekaterinburk, in Russia, who decided "to play with fire", literally. He uses flame shapes to create some kind of flame-shape paintings, he composes different images of them. All this involves a lot of photographing.

Aristo made a splendid series of images with matches between 2010 and 2013. It's after taking part in a themed "line of life" photo contest from Formula foto that the idea of using lighted matches came to him.

The "stroke of genius" or as Stanislav said himself: "it's not the first idea with one things that shows another things :)" reminds us all the poetry that has fire in the collective unconscious. Thanks to Stanislav for giving us some of his time answering our questions and for sharing with us his work.

The Art of Photo manipulation

Photo manipulation dates back to some of the earliest photographs captured on glass and tin plates during the 19th century.

The practice began not long after the creation of the first photograph (1825) by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce who developed heliography and made the first photographic print from a photoengraved printing plate.

Patrick Le Hech (French, 1965)

Illusionist photographer Patrick Le Hec'h began his training at the École d'Art Graphique Corvisart de Paris. On his release he worked briefly as an illustrator and graphic designer before accepting the artistic direction of a communications agency.

Inspired by the romantic and surreal, is detected in its early creations of the atmosphere that are visionary painters: Giorgio De Chirico 1888-1978, Tanguy, Bocklin, Delvaux and René François Ghislain Magritte, 1898-1967.

Invited to present his paintings at galleries renowned Parisian Avenue Matignon, rue du fg St Honore, at the Grand Palais, as well as Monte Carlo, Cannes, Palm Beach, Chicago or New York, his work now recognized as contained in number of private collections, earned him awards on the occasion of major arts events.

Mike Savad | American photographer

Mike Savad is an photographer. His style of digital manipulation of images and the addition of color to old images, to achieve that personal cyberpunk effect is fantastic. Mike has achieved a unique style that makes him recognizable all over the world.

"Mike Savad: Photo realistic is what people think of first. There are many themes, flowers, porches, and local Suburban Scenes, some city, some urban.

My style is not really photography and not really a painting.I create images that resemble paintings, a cross between Rockwell, and the paintings of the Renaissance.

I don't like plain photos. I found that over time every photographers work will look the same. Its hard to set yourself apart from everyone else if your work looks like everyone else's".

Carsten Witte (German photographer, 1964)

The Hamburg native photographer Carsten Witte has an extensive portfolio ranging from fashion, beauty, advertising and art. He specializes in black and white photography and believes that all his photo's hold a story.

Carsten Witte Studies of Visual Arts and Photography at FH Bielefeld, Internships and assistances to several Photographers. Collaboration with photographer Angela Bergling from 1987-1995.

"Starting with Editorial and Campaign Photography I turned towards Art in 2004. Several exhibitions since then all over the world".

Natalie Shau, 1984 | Pop Surrealism painter

Natalie Shau is mixed media artist and photographer based in Lithuania (Vilnius). She refers to herself as a mixed media artist and photographer with an interest in fashion and portrait photography as well as digital illustration and photo art.

Some go as far as to describe her as a world-famous female representative of the hi-tec avant-garde of figurative art and leading illustrator and photographer in the digital art scene.

However, none of her shorter or longer biographies published on the internet make clear whether the Lithuanian ever attended art school at all or whether she is a mere autodidact. Considering the absence of any reference to an art education in her biographies, one rather has to assume the latter.

Anja Bührer | Surreal silhouettes

Anja Bührer, aka Latoday, is a Berlin-based photographer and digital artist. Bührer uses her hauntingly beautiful aesthetic to depict a myriad of dreamy scenes. Bührer's conceptual photographs lie somewhere between dreams and nightmares, as though one is trapped in this in-between state of unconsciousness.

There's a haziness throughout her dreamed, souls, and street collections that somehow balance the familiar with the unknown.

Colors | Yellow

Claude Monet | Yellow Irises, 1917

Yellow is the color between orange and green on the spectrum of visible light.

It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 570-590 nm.

It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing.

In the RGB color model, used to create colors on television and computer screens, yellow is a secondary color made by combining red and green at equal intensity.

Carotenoids give the characteristic yellow color to autumn leaves, corn, canaries, daffodils, and lemons, as well as egg yolks, buttercups, and bananas.

They absorb light energy and protect plants from photodamage.

Sunlight has a slight yellowish hue when sun is near a horizon, due to atmosphere scattering shorter wavelengths (green, blue, and violet).