Doing it Wrong: Funny Photo-Edited Urban Improbabilities

improbable crosswalk

It would be entirely right and wrong at the same time to call this body of work realistic. On the one hand, the results look like pictures (which form the basis of these manipulations) – on the other hand, while not impossible, the reality they present is dramatically improbable.

improbable urban landscape photos

This series by Robert Rickhoff is titled Out of Place and features all kinds of ordinary spaces and situations, from swing sets, crosswalks and roundabouts to railroad tracks, swimming pools and public bathrooms.

improbable swing sets pool

Yet in (almost) each case, there is something not quite right … or drastically wrong. It takes a little while to notice in each case, though, until you get the hang of it and start looking for the odd-man-out element right away.

improbable urban speed bumps

Still, it is fun to imagine what would happen to people taking a speed-bump ramp, or encountering a raised crosswalk – certainly a surreal experience in reality, and at least something to trigger the urban imagination in photographic form.