Gelinck made the first image for his "Then and Now" series about 10 years ago along with his brother. Fast forward to now, this hobby has escalated very quickly, but it came together naturally as the artist is a fan of the entertainment industry.
"I did a graphic education as a graphic designer. I have had lessons in drawing, design, drama, and photography. I really like the media. I love music, film, and TV. So to put celebrities together was a natural fit," Gelinck told Bored Panda.
"The edits I post are purely for entertainment. And I like to convey that to people. I like to show what I can, what my talent is. People usually respond positively to photos. They are very surprised and sometimes confused when they see the edits. It also brings a lot of emotion."
Looking at these celebrity transformations throughout the years not only allows us to compare how people age, it triggers memories of our favorite film, TV, and music personalities, especially those who are no longer among us. While once again realizing how old we are and how inevitably quickly time passes, we can also look back at our own changes over the years.
Gelinck has found a unique way of portraying celebrities while also showcasing his amazing Photoshop skills. Some seamlessly edited photos of celebrities hanging out and interacting with their younger selves may even look like a glitch in the matrix. The meticulous blend of tones, contrast, environments, and scale of two completely different photos that, in this case, are decades apart makes us think twice about whether these people are actually the same person. This can only be achieved with great talent and a fair amount of time on hand, as one photo edit might take up to three hours.
"I find it the most challenging when some more difficult compositions have to be made of the 2 versions in the photo such as a hand on the shoulder or where they hug each other. As you can see, I use more diverse compositions in the image."
Ard Gelinck has definitely hit the internet's spot with such a simple and brilliant idea of combining famous people with their much younger selves, showcasing their transformations over time. People love a little nostalgia every now and then, probably as much as they love to see celebrities age. The artist currently has 285k followers on Instagram and counting.
"I could not have imagined that my photo edits would go all over the world. Although in this time of social media, and therefore Instagram, things can go very fast. Photos will be shared quickly and a lot. And once it is on the net, it will never go off the internet. There are still people all over the world who have not yet seen these photos and are new to them. New followers are also added daily. And I am very grateful."
Among his followers are hundreds of famous Dutch people, but also many American celebrities, which the artist finds thrilling but odd. In fact, Gelinck has reached a stage of popularity himself, where some celebrities approach him to make his trademark Photoshop edits of them.
"Famous people who have shared my photos include: Madonna, Robbie Williams, Tina Turner, Annie Lennox, Sylvester Stallone, John Cleese, Alyssa Milano, Jason Priestley, Jason Donovan, Gary Barlow, Barry Gibb, Melissa Etheridge, Viola Davis, Rob Lowe, Lionel Richie, Ricky Gervais, Michael Douglas, John Parr, Ronan Keating, and more," the artist listed a handful of celebrities who enjoyed his photo montages as much as we do.
