Sensual Body Landscapes by Photographer Carl Warner

Carl Warner makes the literary literal in a series of 'landscapes' composed entirely of naked men and women.

Shirin Borthwick
Published on August 04, 2013

Since time immemorial, poets and bards have compared rolling hills to the fecund curves of the human body: "To whit, yon vale dost suggest to mine eye the breathing bosom of my lady fair." Or some such wankery. Now photographer Carl Warner makes the literary literal, in a series of 'landscapes' composed entirely of naked men and women.

Using studio lighting and Photoshop compositional trickery, individual bodies becomes duplicates, limbs are seen from multiple angles, and skin becomes desert rock hewn by the wind of millennia. With titles like 'The Cave of Abdo-Men', 'Desert of Backs' and 'Shin Knee Valley' (a personal favourite), it's easy to see both the human and geological aspects of each picture, while imagining that they're images from a real world. Channelling the idea that a body that's lived in by an individual can be conceived as a larger place to live, Warner's pictures are sensual and intriguing, inviting you to take time identifying what body parts you're actually looking at.

You can scope out the full series on Warner's website. A seasoned 'Otherscaper', for decades he's been crafting his trademark artificial landscapes out of food, office supplies, tools and all manner of products — and attracting many advertising clients in the process. His most famous body of work is his Foodscapes, entirely different in colour spectrum and emotional tenor but just as impressive as these mountains and valleys of luscious skin.

The Desert of Sleeping Men

Shin Knee Valley

Shoulder Hill Valley

Desert of Backs

Published on August 04, 2013 by Shirin Borthwick
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