Get Tripped Up by These Tricked-Out Photographs

A new photography collaboration aims for an unbearable lightness

The youths combine elements of parkour, dance and gymnastics to contort their bodies in midair. Dimitri Daniloff and Sven Hauth
Daniloff captured the original images during “tricking” sessions on the beaches of Spain. Dimitri Daniloff and Sven Hauth
Daniloff hopes to challenge viewers to consider what is real and what is possible. Dimitri Daniloff and Sven Hauth
"Meshology" is a collaboration between French photographer Dimitri Daniloff and German computer graphics artist Sven Hauth. Dimitri Daniloff and Sven Hauth
Hauth wraps a member of the Villarreal “tricking” team, photographed by Daniloff, in digital webs. Dimitri Daniloff and Sven Hauth
Hauth uses computer graphics to create surreal, acrobatic moments of entanglement. Dimitri Daniloff and Sven Hauth

Isn’t gravity a drag? Sometimes it can feel that way, but if you look at this sprightly image you might not feel so weighed down. It was taken by the French-born photographer Dimitri Daniloff, who got the idea for the work after seeing children climbing giant nets in a park in Hakone, Japan—“playing with gravity,” he realized. He photographed members of the Villarreal “tricking” team practicing on the beach in Castellón, Spain, enthusiasts of a sport combining the acrobatic stunt-walking of parkour with a flip-happy style of gymnastics. The net was added later using computer graphics software by Sven Hauth, a German digital artist, as part of a series they call “Meshology.” Consider the whimsy of a leaping body gracefully entangled in Hauth’s bright green, elastic-looking net as an invitation to play in any way you want, laws of physics be damned. “I like to question what is possible,” Daniloff says, “and what is real.” 

Get the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.