Pictured above is the photograph that won 2018’s Sony World Photography Awards overall best. Although it may not be the most awe-inspiring or breathtaking, there is a simple elegance in its simplicity and contrast in the composition of the black background and reflected light on water . . Or not.

 

It is actually an acrylic painting from Jason de Graaf’s works of Hyperrealistic paintings, titled “A Wave of Refreshment”. It is a testament to the artists’ skill that Graaf’s painting can be mistaken as a high-definition photograph of two lemons plunging into water. As someone who has dabbled in finger-painting back in elementary school, I can appreciate the level of control with which Graaf had to handle the paint. To capture such depth through the distorted image in the glass cup and the movement of the water requires a level of mastery over acrylics which very few can bring out. It is beyond a doubt that Graaf is talented as a painter.

 

No matter how many times I look at it, I cannot peel my eyes away from the glass and the lemons. Knowing it is a painting, my eyes are constantly searching for the telltale mark of the synthetic hairs in brushes, finding none. Yet, that is the only thing that appeals to me. It is the near-perfect imitation of a photograph that is captivating, but the art itself is lacking in depth of imagination where its depth of portrayal is unsettlingly real. The category that this type of art falls under, Hyperrealism and Realism, is often applauded for demonstrating the skills of an artist that has honed their craft to be better than anyone who came before. And I enjoy realism art, especially the detailed portrayals of people, but such still-life imagery does not capture a new dimension to everyday photography in the same way that other cultural movements have brought.

 

 

One type of art I admire in particular is surrealism. This movement in art and literature was first inspired by its roots in World War I. Beginning as a series of anti-art purposefully defying reality and logic in times of war, it amassed a large following in Europe and the style pursued into modern times. Its specific beginnings can be pinpointed around 1917, Giorgio de Chirico’s paintings of a hallucinatory street acting as a benchmark of the movement’s start. It abandons the rationality and logic of life, instead focusing on portraying the unconscious mind and dreams. I find it more intriguing in how unique and unexpected each painting demonstrates the artists’ interpretation of the world around them.

 

 

It is almost hypnotizing to stare at the painting and try to comprehend the meaning behind it, what might have inspired the placement and composition of the objects. As a matter of fact, in the early 1900s, there was an experiment using hypnotization to access the unconscious mind, but it was eventually deemed too dangerous and abandoned. Instead, people popularized surrealism as a means of peering inside an individual’s warped perception of reality. 

 

 

 

In defense of Jason De Graaf and Hyperrealism, however, his art also brings another interpretation to reality that cameras and digital technology do not. It creates “an illusion of depth, volume, and a sense of presence” lacking in photographs, and possibly hints at something beyond perfectly capturing reality – it is just a little more subtle.