Distortion photography is the art of bending reality, using tools like a slow shutter, a prism, or intentional camera movement to turn an everyday scene into something abstract and dreamlike. The beauty of the Distortion theme is that it forces you to abandon the safety of a sharp, literal image and instead lean into emotion, chaos, or abstract through unconventional setups. As you look through the five standout photos below, notice how each photographer used distortion not as a gimmick but as a deliberate storytelling device, and remember that pushing past your comfort zone is where real growth happens.
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“Gold”
Why I liked it: I try not to pull photos for this blog from our top three winners in the album but these are honestly my five favorite photos this week and it wouldn’t do them justice to leave them out. Starting with Kaye, what I love about this is all the intention around it. If there was no smudgy glass with a triangle shape in front of the lens, it would still be an excellent photograph and that’s the key to a great abstract. The care that Kaye took in masking out (I mean literal masking tape) the triangle on the glass and the decision to keep the focus on a glass with perfect strip lighting on the subject, it’s just a photo that works at any angle you look at it. 10/10
Exif: Nikon D850 · Nikon 135mm f/2 @135mm · 1/125 · f/4 · ISO 160
Tags: #uk #vaseline #studio #outoffocus #goldenlight #shootthrough
Genre: Used External Flash, Fine Art, Abstract, Portrait/Self-Portrait
“Multiplicity”
Why I liked it: What I love about Cristina’s photo is that at first it doesn’t look like there was much trickery. I could see this up in a hallway and people would pass by and not realize. Once you take a closer, however, look you realize the care that Cristina took in keeping the scene human but duplicating certain objects to mess with your head and then furthering the optical illusion with the warping of the waves. It’s an illusion that is so entertaining and the more you look at it the more you can appreciate this incredible artwork.
Exif: Sony A7R5 · Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 @70mmmm · 1/1250 · f/5 · ISO 100
Tags: #sony #beach #multipleexposures
Genre: Landscape
“Distorted Reality”
Why I liked it: Diane took her subject outside on an overcast day and played around with long shutter. What’s even more special about this photo is that the triangle reflection was a happy accident from a nearby birdhouse feeder. I think when you enter the world of creativity, you invite happy accidents and the photo that came out in the end is wonderfully abstract and truly special.
Exif: Nikon Z8 · Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 @52mm · 1/5 · f/5.6 · ISO 50
Tags: #birdfeederreflection #trianglereflection #triangle #reflection #incamera #doubleexposure
“Dystopian Mermaid”
Why I liked it: Where do I begin with this one? The important thing to note here is that none of this is photoshopped. Kristi has a specialized filter at the end of her lens to create this circular warp effect. No element of this frame is unplanned. Fellow talented framer Daria brought her mermaid fins and Kristi spray-painted and fitted together some random gear in the garage to put together this wonderfully strange apocalyptic scene. To me this is just pure creative experiment at its finest.
Exif: Canon EOS R8 · @27mm · 1/125 · f/14 · ISO 100
“Splitting”
Why I liked it: Lastly I just love Michel’s photo here as a testament to less is more. We’ve all seen a similar scene of somebody passing by a reflective surface but to freeze the action at this moment to create a wonderfully distorted effect shows you how creativity can sometimes be more impressive with the small things we observe in our day, than the elaborate setups we think we need. A fantastically wonderful minimalistic shot. I think the black-and-white processing further enhances this minimalism, removing any extraneous detail so the distortion is truly the star of the frame.
Exif: Canon Eos R6 Mark II · Canon 24-105mm f/4.0 @92mm · 1/15 · f/7.1 · ISO 800
Tags: #noiretblanc #blackandwhite #absurd #photoart #artphoto #love #manwithhat #distorsion #split
Genre: Fine Art, Humor, Abstract
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