Surrealism in the works of Thomas Barbet

Photographer Thomas Barbéy creates surreal collages with deep meaning. At first glance, it seems that his work is made with the help of exclusively graphic editors, but in fact it is the magic of skilled hands and the result of double exposure. He starts creating his works with a concept, and then takes old photographs (of which there are many in his family archive) and invents incredible virtual worlds in which reality and fiction are intertwined. The magical world of the photographer is infinitely diverse and looks like an alternative reality to our existence.

Thomas Barbet was born in Connecticut in 1957. When the boy was only six months old, his family moved to Europe, where Thomas grew up and was educated. After Italy and Germany, he lived in Switzerland for 17 years. In his second year, he left the University of Geneva to pursue a career in the music business.

After a successful appearance in the Italian music charts, he moved to Italy and remained there for 15 years, where he successfully pursued a career in the music business, and photography was his favorite hobby. Imbued with the European spirit, Thomas became interested not only in photography, but also in the geometric aesthetics of Escher and Magritte. 

From this moment, his dizzying career as a conceptual photographer began, creating entire worlds that are beautiful and frightening in their surreal nature. In the early 90s, he already owned a successful fashion photo studio, and in 1995 he moved back to the United States.

Today, Thomas Barbet lives and works with his wife, Suzanne, in Las Vegas. His wife is his business partner, and Barbet himself creates black-and-white surreal images, which he calls photomixage.

"I draw inspiration for my work from many years of traveling around the world, everyday life, as well as from my favorite artists, such as Roger Dean. I always carry a few cameras with me."

"The process of photomontage begins with the concept. Then I choose the negatives that I will use."

"Then a draft of the future work is created — I carefully choose the printing process. By superimposing the negatives on top of each other, I print them at the same time. A double exposure prepared in advance, photo retouching, or a combination of all of the above also plays an important role here."

"Sometimes I retouch and / or use brushes on collages before I rephot them. Then I create a control negative to print a few photos."

"Although I am constantly asked how I do it, I would like people to just look at these pictures without being puzzled by the technical side of the question."

"Visual inspiration and imagination is not a technical skill that is taught in school, but my personal qualities, a gift from God, if you will."

"This is the only way to explain where my ideas come from."