( CNN ) -- At first glance , the contorted limbs and faceless forms in Patrice Letarnec 's photographs look like a wackier version of the 1990s trend of wearing your clothes backwards . But Letarnec 's photo series `` Walking Upside Down , '' which features people doing handstands with their clothes on upside down , is a far departure from hip-hop sensation Kriss Kross ' dated fashion trend . The French photographer explains that the silliness of his images is actually a form of social commentary . His photo series was inspired by the French expression `` marcher sur la tÃªte '' -- walking on your head , a colloquial phrase for acting foolishly . `` Walking on your head shows the absurdity of human behavior , '' he told CNN through a translator . `` We do silly things , humans do silly things . '' The characters of his photo series are set in public spaces throughout Paris . Letarnec wanted to highlight the architecture of French buildings against the absurd poses that his characters were doing . The combination of strangely intriguing poses and whimsical Parisian settings became instantly popular after he uploaded his photographs to his tumblr with various bloggers reposting his images online . He came up with the concept in December 2013 and drew out poses that he wanted his characters to be in for the photographs . While attempting to do a handstand against a wall in his Nantes studio , he realized he needed skilled people who were capable of standing on their hands for this type of photo shoot . Letarnec contacted Parisian schools to find dancers who were interested in being a part of his project . His inquiries were greeted with enthusiasm , and several dancers lined up to participate . But they did face some interesting challenges . `` During the series , one of the dancers said they could not do the walking handstands because in order to walk on their hands they had to see the horizon . And in the series , their heads are covered by clothing , '' he said . `` I was so nervous this project was n't going to happen . '' But after several takes , the dancers grew comfortable with the walking handstands and started loosening up , adding their own personal movements to the photographs . The 44-year-old artist was thrilled to see his characters add their own interpretation to the series . Letarnec currently works at an ad agency and said his true passion is n't necessarily photography , but contemporary art . For him , photography is a medium to capture an idea , like this one . He was drawn to his `` Walking Upside Down '' project because he wanted take a surreal idea , and shoot it in a realistic way , without using any lighting effects or photo editing software in his work . `` In the U.S. people might see this just as a series of silly photos , but it 's a social commentary , '' he said . `` I tried to show a funny way to send a message about human behavior . I think French people may be more sensitive to these photos because of the expression . '' Either way , Letarnec said he embraces the idea that people find the series fun , and said the photos are supposed to seem silly .
Artist Patrice Letarnec strives to show human foolishness through his photographs . The artist has been working in the field of photography for over 20 years and is currently based in Paris. Letarnec tries to evoke absurdity in his photographs in a fun and silly way , he says .