PHOTOS: Visual artist creates life-like photos of balloon creatures

All the children at their next birthday party will want to get their hands on these hyper-adorable inflatable creatures. In her series “Balloon Zoo”, vetturned-artist Sarah DeRemer used photo-manipulation to create striking pictures of rubber animals that look amazingly lifelike – and amazingly cute, of course.

I can’t figure it out: are they animals or balloons?

The images are made using photos of real animals, combined with photos of real twisted animal balloons, so a bit of both!

What was the process in creating these adorable rubber animals?

After I acquire a photo of the balloon animal form, I find the best animal photos to fit the balloon. Then I combine the images using Photoshop.

What was your motivation behind the project?

I really enjoy manipulating pictures to create realisticlooking scenes and images that many viewers can relate to. I saw an image of a standard balloon animal, and simply wondered if I could push the basic balloons to the next level and make them more personal for the viewer using real animal images. I thought it would be a fun new project to explore, especially since I love working with images of animals.

Did you like balloon animals as a kid?

I always have had a love of animals, so I definitely liked balloon animals. Do you think clowns will be envious of your superenhanced balloon animals? I hope that they won’t be too envious, but that they just appreciate the art I’ve created!