Screenshot deluxe: Perfect Hand

Screenshot deluxe  ist zurück für den Sommer! Wie letztes Jahr soll in dieser Serie in (un)regelmäßigen Intervallen bemerkenswerte In-Game-Fotografie vorgestellt werden - man könnte das vielleicht auch Videogame-Tourismus nennen.  Diese Woche, frisch aus dem Flickr-Pool: Perfect Hand.

Der US-Amerikaner Michael AKA Perfect Hand konzentriert sich auf Urban Exploration in virtueller Form - da kommt das aktuelle Apokalypsenszenario von Last of Us gerade recht. Novum: Im am Ende des Artikels verlinkten Video präsentiert Michael seine Impressionen aus der Pilzapokalypse gesammelt. 

Despite having no formal training, I've always enjoyed photography. The art of capturing a moment in space and time that conveys an idea or emotion is something that greatly appeals to me. This, combined with my long time love and appreciation of video games, compelled me to try my hand at in-game photography. I was doing it long before I knew there were other people who shared my interest, much less that there were online communities for the subject.

The greatest difference between real world and in-game photography is personal investment. Real world photography requires a certain level of time, money, effort, and training that in-game photography does not. For someone such as myself, who does not necessarily have the time and/or money, game photography is an excellent way to fulfull this passion.

My approach to game photography is a bit different than most. I prefer to shoot these virtual worlds in a way that preserves the look of the game as it was intended by its creators. Many game photographers use modifications, shader enhancers, and color injectors to alter the look of the game world to suit their needs. There is nothing wrong with this approach, but my goal is to represent the same game world that a person would experience if he/she was to play the game. To this end, I will use modifications that remove HUDs or provide for free camera operation, but nothing that alters the appearance of the game world.

The smooth, clean, and rigid symmetry of man made environments is very utilitarian and boring. When these environments deteriorate a much more compelling and natural world is born. Destruction, as a subject, is naturally interesting to people. A picture of a building only expresses what is, but a picture of a collapsed building tells a story of what was and how it came to be no more. The latter is a much more interesting tale.

Honestly, I cannot remember ever being as impressed by a destroyed or abandoned virtual world as I was with The Last Of Us. Despite the limitations of Playstation 3 hardware, the artists were able to inject a tremendous amount of detail into every location. Every hallway, every room in that game is unique in some small way, and that makes for a much more compelling experience.