Usually, conceptual photography and manipulation is not as readily associated to darker concepts. Think of fairies, dressers, flowers, and beauty. Where does that leave the world on the other side? 

As a fan of horror, mystery, and dark fantasy, this initiative called the "Dark Realm Collective" embodies the wonder so perfectly. It's curated in a way that connects the best digital artists together to create some exceptional pieces of work!

I came across this by accident, casually browsing on Facebook and stopping on an image created by Clinton Lofthouse. It was watermarked with "Dark Realm Collective" and immediately googled away to find myself falling down a rabbit-hole of visual epicness. I was so impressed, not only from a technical point of view, but also the vision and concept! 

I immediately reached out to the mastermind of this whole thing, Matt Seff Barnes, and he answered my curiosity. 

How did you get the idea about starting the DRC and how did you decide which artists to bring on? 

The biggest reason for me to start the Dark Realm collective was purely to have the opportunity to work with other artists in the dark arts community. I always liked the idea of collectives ,  and there are many good ones out there, but none that lent themselves solely to my tastes in art. So i decided why not set up my own. I sat on the idea for about a year, i felt that i wanted to improve as an artist to a level where my work would sit along side the very talented artists that i planned on asking to join.

When i felt i had got to a certain level i went about making a list of names that i was not only a fan of, but also would add the right kind of work to the collective.

I was already friends and in contact with most of the names I had in mind, and luckily they shared my love of the genre enough to want top join the group.

With each creation, is it done without any bias or direction, letting their own vision come through, or is it based on a specific theme? 

The way the group is run is very open, i thought that was important.
so we work as a team in almost every aspect, certain members take on certain tasks. 

Usually we have group discussion on what we want the main subject to be, for example Witchcraft, then one member; Dean Samed goes away for a few days and thinks of some themes, usually about 5 and they are presented back to the group as post.

Then i guess its just kind of choose a theme that inspires you the most, then we usually work on our individual works that interpret the theme over the course of around 2 moths, after that they are collated and presented as a full project.

Where do you see it going from here?

The Dark Realm Collective has only been running for just under two years, so really there is a lot of room for growth, There has been talk among the group about perhaps inviting Sculptors or Photographers in, or other creative fields, but of course it must sit well with the tone that the group work produces.

Although i feel the group will always have its roots firmly in digital art , there  is no reason why other mediums of creation can't be part of its growth and future.

You can follow them through these channels to see more, as the pieces below are just a mere sample of the entire collection: 

Tumblr: http://darkrealmcollective.tumblr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkrealmcollective/

You can also follow them on Behance to see them as their own series through Matt's project profile: 
https://www.behance.net/Seff01