A still body of water in France; columns rising from a landscape in Spain; clouds boiling over an eastern North Carolina sky — all of it featured in a single photograph that creates a place where none existed before.

“Obscure World” is the work of Neil Loughlin, photographer and co-owner of Lone Leaf Gallery & Custom Framing with his wife Meredith. The exhibit is a series of unique landscapes and places — unique because the pieces of each image came from real places Loughlin has photographed in his travels. Put together, they create an entirely different reality.

“It’s not depictions of any one place … They feel like a real place, but there’s something different about it,” Loughlin explained. “They sort of feel like a dream or a memory.”

Much of Loughlin’s larger body of work has a surreal, dreamy quality, which means he had ample material for the “Obscure World” composite pieces. But Loughlin said he never deliberately set out to capture images for the project: they were simply there.

“It’s pulling from work over the years. It’s never thought out ahead of time. It’s just sitting down, seeing what I’ve got and going from there,” he said. “Everything’s being revisited.”

Loughlin said having his own work displayed at Lone Leaf is a rare occurrence: his last exhibit was three years ago.

“I’ve shown my work several other places but a big part of this space is exhibiting other artists,” he said.

During those three years, Loughlin’s photography has been displayed at galleries in Asheville, Lexington, Ky., Longview, Texas, and a variety of other locations. Work entered in juried photography shows often results in galleries requesting exhibits of his work.

The opening reception for “Obscure World” coincides with downtown Washington’s Art Walk on March 28, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibit will run through May 24.