Plate XVL – © Karl Burke – NYT Lens

Years ago, while working at the Kodak research labs, I had the idea of shooting images within a virtual space. The thinking was in part due to the tremendous amount of time people were spending within gaming and other types of nonphysical worlds. Computer generated and augmented realities seemed ideal environments for recording virtual experience. It seemed to me that there was an opportunity for recording virtual events that would simulate the experience of photography through a tourist, artist, or photojournalist point of view. Karl Burke is a photographer who has done just that.

“Mr. Burke entered the video game, “Project Reality,” a modified version of Battlefield 2, and explored its synthetic environments, driving through battlefields in a virtual Jeep. While other players — including actual veterans — competed in missions, he trailed their path of casualties like a modernday Roger Fenton, recreating his actual process of framing photographs.” – New York Times Magazine Lens

Karl Burke’s Tintypes of Video Game Warfare NYTimes