Photographer Martine COUSSON is an Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this photo essay. From the series ‘A Tribute to Magritte: The Man in the Bowler Hat’. To see Martine’s body of work, click on any photograph.

For Magritte, painting was an art form that did not need to conform to the pictorial expectations of the era; on the contrary, it offered the artist total freedom setting aside the reflection of reality to make way for the imagination.

With the advent of digital photography, photographers are granted this same freedom: the chance to let their imagination run wild and harness them in the service of their art. Paying tribute to Magritte and his famous “Man in the Bowler Hat,” I adopted this same approach to create these photo montages, which blend photography with the realm of imagination.

Each montage was created using studio portraits combined with elements from earlier photographs (taken in Lyon or during various trips within France and abroad) to build backgrounds and settings… Thereby bringing to life a story that each viewer can then make his own.

Artist Statement

My passion for photography developed gradually through the people I met along life’s journey. 

I had always been interested in it, but like many others I started out by taking simple "snapshot" photos. It was only when I met experienced photographers over a decade ago that I began to realize what photography truly is: an art form in its own right. 

These encounters allowed me to discover techniques and themes I had previously barely explored. 

I was interested in all areas of photography from everyday scenes and portraits to landscapes though I particularly gravitated toward graphic forms and architecture. Yet, deep down, I had always wanted to pursue creative photography, even though I lacked the means or the skills to do so at the time. 

Discovering Photoshop finally opened the door to this creative world for me, and I now devote myself entirely to this field, where I truly flourish. 

My artistic universe often revolves around painters like Picasso, Magritte, and Hopper, as well as comic book artists such as Hergé. I do not seek to copy them, they are unique, and I do not possess their talent, but I draw inspiration from their techniques, objectives, and worlds as a starting point, allowing my imagination to take over and create my own compositions.