Artist Has Self-Portrait Painting Approved as Drivers License Photograph

Check out this portrait photograph of Swedish artist Fredrik Saker. It’s actually a self-portrait that Saker painted by hand. While we’ve seen and shared photo-realistic drawings before, Saker’s came up with a clever way of validating his photo’s realism: he managed to have it approved as his drivers license photo.

The whole thing started when the 29-year-old artist was asked to renew his drivers license. Wanting to prove that his highly-detailed drawings can pass as photos, he decided to submit a self-portrait as his photograph.

He spent 100 hours drawing the picture and making sure every tiny aspect matched real life as accurately as possible. Once it was finished, he took a photograph of the painting and submitted it to the Swedish Transport Board.

Weeks later, Saker was pleased to receive a license with his painting used as the photo.

After the story became widespread, a spokesman for the Swedish Transport Board told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter: “We have examined the original documents and compared them with his previous driving licence. The picture we have received looks like any other photo, so we have had no reason to question it.”