Interview
Benoit Theunissen
Benoît Theunissen is a Belgian surrealist photographer and digital artist based in Trier, Germany. Founder of Perspectives by Ben, he creates hybrid visual works that merge photography, digital collage, glitch aesthetics, and AI to explore the thresholds between reality, memory, and dream. His photographic path began with photojournalism during his journalism studies. After nearly a decade in figurative photography, he shifted toward abstraction and surrealism, driven by a desire to move beyond mere representation. Techniques like Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) and composite photography became central to his practice, enabling him to explore subconscious imagery, Jungian archetypes, and altered perception. Rooted in both poetic intuition and critical reflection, his work also investigates the emotional and symbolic impact of technology. Glitch and AI are used not as shortcuts, but as tools to disrupt visual habits and explore systemic fragility. As Ambassador for ANASAEA, Benoît exhibits in the metaverse and contributes to shaping emerging digital art ecosystems. His work—ranging from fine art prints to immersive virtual experiences—invites viewers into layered, contemplative spaces where the visible and the invisible meet.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“My journey into photography began during my journalism studies, where I trained in photojournalism. For nearly ten years, I focused on figurative photography - capturing people, places, and events with precision and clarity. It was a documentary approach, grounded in realism and narrative structure. But five years ago, something shifted. I began to feel limited by photography that simply reflected reality, like a photocopy machine. I wanted more - more emotion, more ambiguity, more imagination. That desire led me to explore abstract and surrealist forms. Techniques like Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) and composite photography became key tools, allowing me to break the frame of the visible and enter dreamlike, symbolic spaces. This is where I began to investigate deeper layers of perception and the unconscious, often guided by Jungian archetypes. In parallel, I’ve expanded into digital art - working with glitch aesthetics and AI to question how technology shapes our inner and outer realities. This exploration naturally led me to the metaverse. As Ambassador for ANASAEA - a metaverse technology company for artists and galleries - I support the development of digital and immersive art spaces. I regularly exhibit my work in the metaverse, trying to connect diverse audiences beyond physical borders.”
What inspires you?
“I’m inspired by the tension between what’s visible and what lies beneath - those silent layers of reality that often go unnoticed. Nature plays a key role: solitary walks through remote landscapes spark a kind of sensory openness that feeds my creative process. Light, movement, atmosphere - they become entry points into something deeper. Psychology and myth also guide me. Jungian archetypes, dreams, and the subconscious provide a rich symbolic language that I often weave into my work. I’m fascinated by how personal memory and collective imagery intersect. Technology is another major source of inspiration - both as a creative tool and a subject of reflection. Glitch aesthetics, AI, and the metaverse help me explore how digital systems reshape perception and identity. I see beauty in distortion, ambiguity, and the unexpected - whether it’s a broken pixel or a blurred motion. Ultimately, I’m inspired by the idea of crossing boundaries: between disciplines, between real and surreal, between inner world and outer reality. That’s where my art lives.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I explore themes at the intersection of perception, memory, and transformation. My work often deals with the unseen - what slips through logic, language, or linear time. I’m drawn to the subconscious, dreams, and altered states of awareness, using abstraction and surrealism to access those dimensions. A recurring thread in my practice is the tension between control and chaos, structure and collapse. I investigate how systems - emotional, psychological, technological - shape our experience of reality. There is also a strong narrative layer. Many of my works act as portals - inviting viewers to navigate inner landscapes or collective memories. The message is less didactic than experiential: I want to create spaces of ambiguity where viewers can confront their own perceptions, question the surface of things, and sense the poetic or symbolic beneath the real. At a deeper level, my work asks how we construct meaning in a hyper-technological world. It’s a call to slow down, feel, and reconnect - with ourselves, with dreams, with the mysteries that still resist algorithmic capture.”
How would you describe your work?
“I describe my work as a form of visual alchemy - where photography is just the starting point, not the end goal. I take raw moments from reality and subject them to transformation: distorting time with intentional camera movement, merging multiple layers into composite visions, injecting glitches, and weaving in AI-generated fragments. The result is a kind of lucid dreaming in image form. My aesthetic lives in the space between stillness and disturbance, clarity and blur. I’m not interested in showing what things look like - I’m after what they feel like beneath the surface. There’s a cinematic undertone to many of my pieces, but the narrative is open-ended, like a memory half-remembered or a dream you wake from just before the climax.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I’m influenced by artists who blur boundaries - between reality and imagination, order and chaos, technique and emotion. René Magritte has been a foundational influence, not just for his surrealism, but for how he used simple imagery to question perception itself. His quiet subversion resonates deeply with my own approach. In a more abstract and expressive vein, I draw inspiration from Gerhard Richter - especially his ability to shift between hyperrealism and pure abstraction. His layered surfaces feel like visual archaeology. Francis Bacon’s psychological intensity also left a strong imprint on me: his work taught me that distortion can carry more emotional truth than realism ever could. In digital realms, glitch pioneers like Rosa Menkman inspire me with their ability to turn error into aesthetic language. I’m also influenced by artists working with AI and code as collaborators - those who treat machines not as shortcuts, but as provocations.”
“I explore themes at the intersection of perception, memory, and transformation. My work often deals with the unseen - what slips through logic, language, or linear time.”
What is your creative process like?
“My creative process is intuitive, layered, and intentionally open to disruption. It often begins with solitary walks - usually in nature or unfamiliar urban settings - where I shoot instinctively, guided by light, movement, and atmosphere. These moments are less about capturing and more about sensing. Back in the studio, the real transformation begins. I work with a wide range of tools - photography, intentional camera movement (ICM), digital collage, glitch effects, and AI-generated fragments. I rarely follow a fixed plan. Instead, I let the material evolve organically, often embracing accidents or distortions as part of the process. The process is cyclical: creation, reflection, destruction, recomposition. It’s not about illustrating an idea, but about uncovering something I didn’t know I was looking for. Each piece emerges from a dialogue between intuition, technique, and chance - anchored in the real, but always reaching toward the invisible.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Artists are the intuitives of our modern societies - like the alchemists, shamans, and visionaries of ancient cultures. We operate in the space between rational structures and emotional truths, translating what’s felt but not yet fully understood. Where past societies turned to mystics to interpret dreams or omens, today we look to artists to decode the chaos, beauty, and contradictions of our time. In that sense, the artist’s role is to reveal undercurrents - emotional, psychological, societal - that are often invisible beneath the surface of daily life. We give shape to the subconscious of a culture, surfacing what’s unspoken through symbols, distortions, and reimaginings. As the world becomes more digitized, accelerated, and mediated by technology, this role becomes even more essential. Artists are evolving into cultural mediators, crafting not just objects but experiences - in physical spaces, in the metaverse, through AI, or through immersive media. We’re no longer just observers or critics; we’re active participants in shaping how humans relate to reality, to each other, and to themselves. Ultimately, I believe the artist’s mission is to hold open a space for complexity, slowness, and wonder. In doing so, we don’t just reflect the world - we reshape how it’s felt and imagined.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“I’ve exhibited in several physical venues, but my most impactful experience was my first exhibition in the metaverse. It allowed me to curate freely, connect with a global audience, and explore immersive formats beyond the limitations of physical space. The featured series was City Stream - a body of glitch-infused urban photography capturing fleeting, everyday moments in cities like Manhattan. Using intentional camera movement and digital distortion, I transformed streets, lights, and architecture into fluid, abstract compositions. The city becomes a living system - rhythmic, unstable, and poetic. It’s a meditation on how urban environments shape perception, filtered through motion and color. That metaverse show marked a turning point: it was no longer just about exhibiting images, but about creating a space where viewers could feel, drift, and reimagine reality.”
Website: www.perspectivesbyben.com
Instagram: @perspectives_by_ben
