These days we have so much visual stimulus, it takes very memorable images to stick with us. Elise Swopes has created one of those moments for us, with her ‘Chasing Waterfalls’ series.

In it, we see Chicago’s imposing skyline inundated with massive waterfalls, which are pouring over skyscrapers, and creating images of surreal beauty, mixed with a bit of science fiction.

While the original series is several years old, one image in particular stayed in the back of our mind, and we felt inspired to revisit it. There’s something poignant, beautiful, but also terrifying about it, especially in the face of recent hurricanes, and the threat of sea level rise.

The 2001 Steven Spielberg film Artificial Intelligence features a future planet where skyscrapers are half submerged, and its references like that which make the imagery even more impactful for us.

See more of Swopes’ creative work on her website, Instagram, and Behance, which show her impressive range and scope.

Images © Copyright Elise Swopes. Used with artist’s permission. 

Incredible waterfall cityscapes by elise swopes
This particular image is the one we’ve been mentally holding onto. There’s something haunting and beautiful about its composition.

Edited by Ben VanderVeen · About Moss & Fog

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Author

Ben VanderVeen is the founder and editor of Moss & Fog, one of the web’s longest-running visual culture destinations. Since 2009, he’s been finding and framing the most beautiful, surprising, and thought-provoking work in art, architecture, design, and nature — reaching over 325,000 readers each month. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

3 Comments

  1. The scenes are beautiful, but they cause in me such a deep uneasiness that I can’t enjoy them at all.

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