These abstract-seeming images are not the result of some wacky Photoshopping. Jay Mark Johnson’s photos are actually incredibly precise. The reason they look like this is because he uses a slit camera that emphasizes time over space. Whatever remains still is smeared into stripes, while the motion of crashing waves, cars and a Tai Chi master’s hands are registered moment by moment, as they pass his camera by. Like an EKG showing successive heartbeats, the width of an object corresponds not to distance or size, but the rate of movement.Viewing the left side of the picture is not looking leftward in space but backward in time.

Pretty incredible and hard to wrap your brain around. To learn more about the process head over to his site here (where there’s all sorts of greatness from Johnson who is an architect, painter, political activist, cinematic special-effects designer and student of cognitive sciences. #overachiever).

Source and photos: Huff Po