Coordinate transformations are a versatile tool to mold the flow of light, enabling a host of astonishing phenomena such as optical cloaking with metamaterials. Moving away from the usual restriction that links isotropic materials with conformal transformations, we show how nonconformal distortions of optical space are intimately connected to the complex refractive index distribution of an isotropic non-Hermitian medium [1]. Remarkably, this insight is linked to the concept of “constant-intensity waves”, that were recently realized for the first time in optics using an optical mesh lattice [2]. We apply our approach to design a broadband unidirectional dielectric cloak, which relies on nonconformal coordinate transformations to tailor the non-Hermitian refractive index profile around a cloaked object. Our insights bridge the fields of two-dimensional transformation optics and non-Hermitian photonics. If time permits, I will also show a few slides on our recent realization of a massively degenerate coherent perfect absorber in which even very complex light fields are absorbed with close to perfect efficiency in a medium that would normally absorb light only very weakly [3]. [1] Krešić, Makris, Leonhardt, Rotter, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 183901 (2022) [2] Steinfurth, Krešić, Weidemann, Kremer, Makris, Heinrich, Rotter, Szameit, Science Advances 8, eabl7412 (2022) [3] Slobodkin, Weinberg, Hörner, Pichler, Rotter, Katz, Science 377, 995 (2022)