Image via Complex Original
Photoshop scandals often make headlines, showing stars with cellulite or models missing limbs. But looking beyond magazine covers and fashion shoots, Photoshop becomes a valuable tool in the hands of artists, where creatives magically make alternate realities just by using the program. Photo manipulation has opened up the ways in which we can create a world that fits our own imagination and, sometimes, it is done so well that we can't tell what is real and what is not. Take a look at these 25 Photoshopped Photos We Wish Were Real, and watch your wildest dreams (and nightmares) take shape.
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Erik Johansson
We truly are impressed by Erik Johannson's Photoshop skills. Although we aren't sure if we'd like to disturb traffic, it sure would be great to pick up a road and make it lead wherever we wanted it to go. The Photoshopping skills in this picture are undeniable.
Chema Madoz
We wish we had this fancy leaf to decorate our apartments. The filter the photographer used also gives the impression that this may not be, in fact, a natural leaf but an artificial construct.
Fiddle Oak
The Borrowers have always made us wanted to know what it felt like to be so miniature, and this photograph makes it a reality. It makes us consider the importance of scale and space when it comes to our perception of normal household objects.
Rafa Zubiria
This is how you put on a show, ladies and gentlemen. We'd love to walk around town and just happen upon a giant paper dragon floating over the skyscrapers. We also love how the dragon's curves are reflected in the different building heights.
Sarolta Bán
There is nothing else we would like to see more in real life than show up to a concert and find out that a tiger is the star of the show. The lighting is immaculately done so that it looks like this actually could be a possibility.
Nicholas Kennedy Sitton
Sometimes what we see in front of us simply is not enough. Although we couldn't imagine ourselves living in this building, it would be great to see manipulated and unconventional architecture like this every once in a while in real life.
Leo Caillard
We're all obviously impressed by the hot bods we see at the Louvre, but it's fun to imagine what all those nudes would wear if they lived today. What is better than seeing your favorite sculptures dressed like hipsters you see in Williamsburg?
Hugh Kretschmer
This photo might be a little cheesy, but who wouldn't want to see their shadows come to life beyond what is seen in the physical realm? Sometimes we all need some escape from the urban landscape.
Ramiro Ramirez
Although we wouldn't necessarily know what to do with a crystal light bulb, we imagine that it would at least make a great house decoration. The juxtaposition between the prehistoric rock and the electric light bulb make for an unlikely, yet aesthetically pleasing pair.
Caras Ionut
This looks like the most terrifying, and fun, swing ever. If we were that little girl we would be panicking for our lives, but how can you freak out when you have such a wonderful view?
Lincoln Harrison
People get excited at the sight of just one falling star, so could you even imagine what it would be like to experience a galactic phenomenon like this? We wouldn't even have the time to pick up our cameras because we would be too dumbfounded.
Miguel Vallinas
Everyone knows that Fashion Week can get a little crazy, so we truly would not be surprised if we found flamingos walking around in couture. Miguel Valinas has a great photo series of creatures dressed to the nines that could outshine any street style star.
Justin Benzel
This photograph perfectly describes how it feels when we don't clean our apartments for a few weeks. If only we had a time warp machine that just put all our things, and cats, back in their right place.
Helena Georgiou
We wouldn't necessarily be sure what to do with this tree if it actually were real, but it surely would be a sight to see in person. The drama in this photograph is undeniable and reminds us of one of those apocalypse movies.
Laurent Chehere
We can't even imagine how a floating house could carry so many heavy, exotic animals, but we're definitely not opposed to this happening in real life. How crazy would it be to look up at the sky and see this happening?
Dominic Alves
This is not your typical digitally manipulated photo, but that is exactly why we love it. We're huge fans of the color palette and Freudian undertones. Photoshop is useful when it comes to abstract art too, folks.
Louis Lander Deacon
Here, Photoshop skills create a haunted nightmare, one where a businessman is possessed in the middle of a forest. Creepy.
Sarolta Bán
Like a Gulliver's Travels gone technologically wrong, this event would definitely be a spectacle in real life. Can you imagine the kind of photos this camera could take?
Elné Neighya
This picture has a fantastical quality to it which makes it all the more intriguing to look at. We can imagine being pushed around by the same wind that is blowing around the golden leaves.
Fiddle Oak
This photograph is so well made that we forget that it is physically impossible. The innocent and sweet atmosphere makes it all the more realistic. If only we could fold our own paper airplanes and take them out for a spin...
PSHoudini
This photograph is so well done that we truly can imagine this old guy wading through the ocean with a forest on his back.
Kaspars B
We love the worn out, old photography effect of this picture. There is an essence of sci-fi and mystery without being too cheesy, and we dig that.
Filip Dujardin
Filip Dujardin gives us a post-apocalyptic view of the world that does not involve decrepit ghost towns and zombies. Instead, we get an idea of what buildings would look like once nature takes over. In this case, the linear, concrete building seamlessly intertwines with the curvaceous, green hills.