I thought I saw another version of this photo somewhere else, without the background and with only the two people standing next to the bottom photo. It's really bugging me! But I could be wrong.

That washed out guy on the left looks like he got caught in mid-teleport or something, but he kinda matches the fadey background. And he's missing a bit of shadow. Maybe that other guy took it.

And good point about the background. It really does look like a backdrop! Painting or not, the lighting is different between background and foreground. The clouds look painted as you pointed out but they don't even match! What is the deal with that?

Yes, he's a little faded looking. If you zoom in the picture, the landscape shows through the people.