Photographer Benoit Lapray has released a series of images in which he envisions classic superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Iron Man, taking a moment away from saving the world to contemplate nature in the French countryside.
According to the Daily Mail , the 33-year-old photographer utilizes professional models dressed as famous superheroes to create his work. He then spends hours superimposing each character on landscapes he has collected. The backdrops in which he frames the contemplative moments of iconic superheroes are taken primarily in France, although one shot came from Devon.
Superheros (like the rest of us) need time in nature to recharge. Cool find via @FastCoDesign http://t.co/SwrPy8wTmH pic.twitter.com/ggZCPImlTf
— Washington Trails (@WTA_hikers) May 14, 2014
Lapray revealed to io9 that the idea for the photo series first came about when he was living in the French Alps. During a walk in the woods, the photographer imagined Superman posed in the landscape, quickly realizing that such an image would be unique.
EN IMAGE : Des petits coins de nature pour super héros… pic.twitter.com/WxVzUd8T1S — Absolutely (@AfterEight13) May 21, 2014
“At the beginning the series was just a bit of a game,” he recalled. “I started with a picture of Superman – I had the idea to put him on a big rock, balanced in the air, and it worked immediately. The result was very powerful. But my favorite has to be Batman. He can be really impressive with his black costume and is the perfect blend between humanity and nature: bat and man – I like that idea. Every being, even the really powerful, draws energy and inspiration from somewhere.”
Les super-héros se ressourcent dans la nature | COMICSBLOG.fr http://t.co/OtWXXFX0Nc pic.twitter.com/iHPpICYgIL
— COMICSBLOG (@COMICSBLOGFRA) May 14, 2014
After considering the image of an iconic superhero in the wilderness, Lapray realized the implications behind his idea.
“There was an evident link between superheroes and nature,” he noted.
This week, Stan Lee, the creator of some of the superheroes pictured in Lapray’s images, celebrated his 92nd birthday. As the Inquisitr previously reported, Lee began working in comics after leaving the military in 1945, going on to create some of the most iconic superheroes in the genre. Of those, he counts Spider-Man as his favorite, though he expressed in an interview with Moviepilot that he is content with his legendary body of work.
Des super-héros dans la nature http://t.co/B1vT4tjHB7 pic.twitter.com/Xv2j478PdJ — La Boite Verte (@LaBoiteVerte) May 15, 2014
While some of the superheroes in Lapray’s photos pose in locations unattainable to mere mortals, others float or fly above the landscape. The photographer notes, however, that he wants viewers to come away from his work with an understanding that everyone is inherently fragile, even superheroes.
[Image: Benoit Lapray via the Daily Mail ]
