Paradox of Reality

  • Dates
    2007 - Ongoing
  • Author
  • Locations Chile, Nicaragua, Australia, United States, New Zealand

Paradox of Reality is an ongoing story-series that I started in 2007 from my eagerness to redefine what we consider real and shake the standardization of human reality.

The mind is biologically wired to filter out certain visual information in order to save energy for other processes. It takes conscious effort to notice the myriad of light and pattern we are constantly exposed to, and this attention expands our wiring. Yet the simple act of turning images upside down, challenges the mind, forcing it to question what it is seeing, and hopefully rewiring it.

By photographing concrete reality, using the ephemeral characteristics of water combined with onsite color filters and the act of turning scenes upside down (no photoshop intervention), I expose the surreal in daily life moments and hopefully make the viewer question what they are looking at and what they are missing all around them. Reality truly changes depending on the eye and mind of the observer.

© Cristina Erdmann - "Man and his thoughts" Valparaíso Port, Chile, 2007
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"Man and his thoughts" Valparaíso Port, Chile, 2007

© Cristina Erdmann - "What am I?" Valparaíso Port, Chile, 2007
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"What am I?" Valparaíso Port, Chile, 2007

© Cristina Erdmann - "Ideas being created" Valparaíso Port, Chile, 2007
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"Ideas being created" Valparaíso Port, Chile, 2007

© Cristina Erdmann - "Extension of a Sunset" Salinas Grandes, Nicaragua, 2017
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"Extension of a Sunset" Salinas Grandes, Nicaragua, 2017

© Cristina Erdmann - "Cobblestone Tree" Melbourne, VIC, Australia 2009
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"Cobblestone Tree" Melbourne, VIC, Australia 2009

© Cristina Erdmann - "Frozen Trees" Wisconsin, United States, 2014
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"Frozen Trees" Wisconsin, United States, 2014

© Cristina Erdmann - "Fiords Visions" New Zealand, 2014
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"Fiords Visions" New Zealand, 2014

© Cristina Erdmann - "The world upside down" Victoria, Australia, 2008
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"The world upside down" Victoria, Australia, 2008

© Cristina Erdmann - "The tree of life" Anglesea, Victoria, Australia 2008
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"The tree of life" Anglesea, Victoria, Australia 2008

© Cristina Erdmann - "Teatree delight" Tasmania, Australia, 2018
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"Teatree delight" Tasmania, Australia, 2018

© Cristina Erdmann - "The calmness after the earthquake" South of Chile, 2017
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"The calmness after the earthquake" South of Chile, 2017

© Cristina Erdmann - "The eye of the pond" Tasmania, Australia, 2018
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"The eye of the pond" Tasmania, Australia, 2018

© Cristina Erdmann - "Red Canyon on the floor" Kings Canyon, Northern Territory, Australia 2010
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"Red Canyon on the floor" Kings Canyon, Northern Territory, Australia 2010

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