Kyle Thompson: A Photographer Who Draws Us into the Surreal World of Mythical

Artistic Background

Portland-based photographer Kyle Thompson describes his photographic style as surreal conceptual photography. This surreal world creator was born in Chicago, Illinois on 11 January  1992.

The 26-year-old says his fascination with abandoned houses is what sparked his interest in photography at the age of 18. He has won two Italian Vogue “Picture of the day” awards and has an impressive CV which includes work for top magazines such as Esquire; which is not too shabby considering this young photographer is self-taught.

The Photographic Process

Kyle describes his work as lonely dreamscapes which offer an uncanny storyline that is indefinable. His photographic process has evolved immensely from his first few images where he simply combined his fascination of abandoned, lonely places with a 10-second timer, and strategic balancing of his camera on an available surface.  Thompson’s ability to remove certain details from his images in order to simplify them is probably why each image creates a sense of intrigue.

The inability to define his storyline or exact emotion is what draws attention; it is our human nature to want to label everything we see and put it into perspective, yet Kyle denies us this basic need. The nonexistent yet palpable storyline that somehow loops and intertwines without reason is the true brilliance of this photographer. He admits that the resulting location and images are based on his own moods and are meant to simply capture fleeting moments.

Kyle Thompson’s Inspiration

As with all contemporary photographers, Kyle used social media to post his work, which quickly gained momentum. His inspiration comes from a curious mind; with Kyle admitting that the self-destruction theme that reoccurs is simply due to the fact that he literally sees his body as delicate and breakable; he likes to portray through using creative photographic processes.

As with most creative souls, Kyle is probably his worst critic and has given up on ideas without even attempting them, resulting in some anxiety as he is a photographer who likes to constantly be releasing new images. His new motto is to be completely open to all ideas that he comes up with, no matter how unusable.  

This in truth is what many aspiring photographers can learn from this exceptionally talented photographer. Couple this lesson with the best advice Kyle has ever been given, which was to ask in order to achieve your dreams, no matter how absurd it may seem at the time.