My Path in Media: Turning Video Games into Photography
The camera is one of the most prominent forms of recording device in modern time. When I first began my photography I was using it as a method to keep track of fragmented memories. So, I would bring my camera with me when my friends and I would go camping, or when I would go solo hiking, beach days, whatever I thought might be memorable. I still continue to do this, but I believe with more of an eye for the artistic nature of the world surrounding us. In a way, this is similar to what Marian Stokes did when she began recording all of news media, in the fear that one day people may forget. My hope in recording memories with friends is that I am more resistant to forgetting, thought it may still fade.
If you were to extract my memory and analyze it in the context of time, then a core memory would be of playing on the Nintendo 64 game console. The reason this has become a core memory is because I believe it has inclined me towards pursuing photography as a pass time, hobby, and now published in Shutterslug: Lightleak Volume 3.
My favorite game on the N64 was Pokemon Snap. The premise of the game is to capture pictures of Pokemon in the wild, in which you would then gain points. The camera in the game has a limited number of captures the photographer can take, which is the same as the method I currently use.
Growing up in the digital age there seems to be no place you can escape from media. Certainly with the invention of the mobile phone, the amount of media I consume daily has driven upwards. For reference I think my daily screen-time is around 8 hours with computer and phone combined.
In my early teenage years I was obsessed with playing Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto Five, which I’m sure is not uncommon as those are two of the most popular video games to date. However, I used the voxel based mining and crafting game to create digital worlds unparalleled to many others. It was a digital canvas to me, and I could be the architect I always dreamt of becoming.
I am using an analogue film camera passed down from my dad to me. Like the methodology behind my photos, I like to think that the camera itself holds a sentimental memory. It has captured many family events, important trips, and probably thousands of memories, which can still be seen when I flip through my parent’s old printed photos. The camera itself is a simple 35mm format film camera with lots of quirks, but it gets the job done.
My photography is also heavily influenced by YouTube. Particularly, by the YouTube channel Grainydays. The channel includes lots of information about the film photography community, and the channel was my original inspiration to find my dad’s discarded camera.
In moving to college I had wanted to document life, routine, and the fun bits between. Unfortunately this also coincided with one of my worst mental health checks in very long. So, I was unmotivated to finish what I had started. But, I am willing to share what I do have below:
Now, along-side photography I occasionally film TikToks of places I travel to. This is parallel to my early teenage years when I would spend hours watching Vines (an old platform like TikTok, which is now shutdown). However, instead of being the watcher I am the one on the other end of the camera recording and uploading. I have found this to be very therapeutic while it also outputs aesthetically appealing media.
I hope to continue producing media with photography, but I wish to expand out to drawing as well. I have been recommended by a friend that I include that as a form of self therapy, and a way to capture my memories in a new, interesting way.
