Electrical lines that turn into the strings of a massive guitar in the sky. A man dragging a bed sheet, which turns into a road, across an empty field. A charming cottage on an island that is actually the back of a giant fish. Digital photography artist Erik Johansson has achieved international fame by taking and then combining photos into surreal, M.C. Escher–like worlds. This is his first book, and it captures the improbable and impossible in fifty distinctive images.

Digital artist Erik Johansson starts with a simple hand-drawn sketch, but what you see in the end is anything but simple: dazzlingly realistic scenes made of hundreds of photographs—all meticulously staged and propped and then stitched together in software—offer a glimpse into wholly invented, incredibly detailed worlds. While shooting takes only a few days, Johansson’s planning and retouching process each take months, resulting in out-of-this-world images that have won him fans worldwide.

Here’s what people are saying about the Erik Johannson’s work:

“Erik Johansson has created a portfolio of stunning images combining photography, raw materials, and digital editing.” — Daily Mail UK

“Erik Johansson … has [taken] the blogosphere by storm by producing heavily manipulated photographs [that] invert aesthetics as we understand them, inspired by MC Escher and other surrealist artists.” — Independent UK