Location: Holthusen lives in San Francisco but was born in Reno, Nev.

Website: markholthusen.com

Major clients: SanDisk, HBO, Kohler, Qwest Communications, Chick Fil-A, Cleveland Ballet, Roger Waters, Honda, Target, Microsoft, Sony Music, Pottery Barn, Starbucks, Banana Republic, Adobe, Marie Callender’s, Toyota and others...

Mixing the disciplines of photography, painting and sculpture, this Bay Area commercial artist creates breathtaking composites that have made him the hit of the advertising world.

You’ve probably seen his work. Perhaps you’ve admired the undulating, morph-ing landscapes he’s created for Asian automobile ads: The writhing, shifting trees in the background at first look like the snakes of Medusa, but a closer examination reveals that they’re made of people. In another, a large white moon floats above a vehicle, but the orb is actually composed of globs of bodies. The ads are strange yet fascinating. 

Or maybe you’ve stumbled upon his images in Communication Arts, Graphis, American Photography or Photo District News. His work is everywhere, and no wonder: The studio photography of Mark Holthusen is an unusual combination of straight photography, miniature model making and Photoshop, a blend that gives his work an eerie, painterly quality. He’s hot, he’s in demand and he’s dominating a new niche of photography in an ever-more crowded digital world.