“Let’s live everyday like it’s the last day but let’s plan everyday like it’s thousand years.”

“The darker the night, the brighter the stars,
The deeper the grief, the closer is God!”

Stunning Fantasy Photographers to Envy

Susan Schroder

Over 20 years of experience in art has led Susan Schroder to find a way to magically combine her photography talent with her life-long love of fantasy art. Her studio is located in Redding, California, but she travels the world to find the perfect locations for her photography, most of them hidden nooks which most people do not frequent.

Amazingly, Susan completes every element of her artwork on her own, from the photography to the photomanipulation techniques, and even nearly all of her costumes she designs and handmakes. She digitally paints the fairy wings and other fantastical features into her art with stunning detail and lighting.

Here are some examples of her work:

Along Came a Spider

Eclipse at the Edge of Night and Day

Ever Sisters

Follow the Cairyon Call

Here Comes Mr. Gaoler

Incendia Unda

Marina

Summer Whispers

Tempus Gate

Viridios

Stanislav Istratov

Stanislav Istratov, a resident of Kiev, began photography in the spring of 2007 when he just decided to buy a digital camera one day. Not long after in February 2008, he bought his first DSLR camera and experimented with outdoor shoots, as most of his photography he had staged inside up to this point. His photographs often tended toward dark art, but as most of his commercial requests were for more ordinary shoots, he learned how to incorporate beauty and fashion photos with a subtle dark or fantastical twist.

Now he offers services in beauty, dark, fetish, and nude photography, photomanipulation, photo retouching, and even illustration. His goal is always to continue experimenting and never get too comfortable using a certain method, which may be the reason for his continuing to produce such masterpieces.

Here are some examples of his work:

Styling

Fashion

Circus

Painting

Turquoise

Miss Bony

Sunny

Ladybird

Damp

Grovemaiden

Alexandra Sophie

By far one of the youngest photographers featured here, Alexandra Sophie is impressively a self-taught photographer who has already demonstrated incredible talent at 19 years of age. Her mission with photography is to show the world that "softness, love, innocence and dreams" still exist.

Her love of nature and anything in its natural form shows through her work. In fact, most of her photo shoots are unplanned, and she rarely meets her models beforehand. She enjoys the spontaneity of not knowing where or for whom she is photographing, as she is better able to capture innocence and a fresh viewpoint. Sophie has done a number of CD covers, book covers, brands, and been featured in magazines such as ELLE girl Korea in March 2012. She has also won Fashion Photo of the Year in the 2012 Festival MAP in Toulouse, France.

Here are some examples of her work:

Paranormal #4

Paranormal #1

Fashion #2

Fashion #5

Fashion #9

Fashion #11

Fashion #17

Underwater #0

Conceptual #5

Conceptual #12

Federico Chiesa

An incredibly talented Italian photographer and touch up artist, Federico Chiesa has an eye for fantastical scenes. While most of his professional work is in advertising, he also has found a love for street photography and fashion. His Horror Vacui photo shoot, created along with makeup artist and special FX stylist Carolina Trotta, is based on a simple question, "What if the most scary 80′s film horror characters were alive now?" showing Chiesa’s humorous side along with his vivid imagination. Both of these elements may be the reason for his long list of impressive clients: Vanity Fair, Mercedes, Universal, Giorgio Gucci, GQ, and much more.

Here are some examples of his work: