eric randall morris distorts the american dream with his image series 'american hyperreality'

american architect and designer eric randall morris crafts whimsical architectural imagery that seem to float in space for his image series ‘american hyperreality’. his work seeks to visualize an ‘architecture of the unconscious’. photographs of american buildings are manipulated to defy logic with color and paradox, forcing viewers to question representations of idyllic america. the ongoing study transforms and mutates real buildings within scaleless and monochromatic fields, setting the stage for the mind and hand to play.

a quaint cottage with a white picket fence seems to float in space

these distortions represent an intentional irreverence for the original photographs, and celebrate their dissolution of reality with pastel skies, sharp geometries, and embedded idiosyncrasies. what began as a photo study of the houses and neighborhoods that constructed morris’s daily commutes, shifted into a serial exploration of the oddities, peculiarities, and perversions of american vernacular architecture. while the project began as an effort of pure documentation, the photo edits started to transform into more uncanny and unfamiliar representations of the subjects photographed.

architecture of the past becomes surreal imagery

‘as the the work developed, priorities shifted, and I realized the story I was telling was not about my surroundings or the streets I walked, but it became an exercise in visual storytelling; translating daydreams into the various architectures I was photographing,’ says morris on the project’s transformed narrative.

architectural paradoxes are created through combined typologies

‘the post-production process became my storytelling device; this granted me the ability to quickly translate thoughts and stretch truths in unpronounced ways. architecture itself relies on inherent deceit, and these images operate within that zone of fact and fiction, mixing the (sub)urban sceneries with part wonderland / part nightmare and the pursuit of a hyperreality’. to see more of morris’ whimsical imagery, follow his instagram page @ericrandall or view his portolio here. 

singular elements are reproduced to create hyperreal scenarios

distortions provide provocative scenarios

backgrounds are removed in order to emphasize an unreal quality

white picket fences and suburban dreams are given a new twist

sharp geometries and embedded idiosyncrasies distort reality

vernacular american architecture such as the ‘suburban porch’ is presented in the series

the seemingly mundane elements of buildings are composed in a dizzying grid

the images operate within the zones of fact and fiction

shadow and light become tools to represent depth

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: isabel narea | designboom