Photos and Artworks Set in Motion by Nicolas Monterrat

Illustrator and animator Nicolas Monterrat  has brought his wild imagination to historical photographs and artworks that he sets in motion. He brings surreal scenes to life adding a bit of humor to historical photos, paintings, and other borrowed imagery.

Monterrat creates these eye-popping animations using vintage images and his own photography. “Vintage photography can be so serious, it makes me want to shake, twist and twirl it to shift the whole thing and bring some poetry, humour or unreality to it,” he says.

Monterrat is a self-taught animator. “I learned the Deadalus-like art of bringing my little stories to life through the inter web,” he explains. “And I’m still learning, of course. I have an advantage though, I always have a camera with me – a little Lumix to take pictures and videos and my smartphone too.”

The short animations blend images borrowed from old catalogues, newspapers, and textbooks with snippets of abstract footage to create collage-like images that range from humorous to downright terrifying. You can follow more from the Paris-based artist on Tumblr.