Game Art: James Rajotte's "Blasted" (2006)

"A portrait project intended to show a simultaneous moment in which people feel a heightened sense of self in a non-reality" (Rajotte)

"With blasted James joins the ranks of photographers working as sociologists, including, but not limited to, Phillip Toledano, made famous by his portraits of video gamers, and Paul Graham who photographed people watching television in the late 80's and early 90's.

He's in good company but his photos stand out because they are slightly ambiguous. His subjects seem genuinely engaged but sometimes sad, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes alienated, and always alone, illuminated by the off-color glow of a monitor, and seated in surrounding darkness. The work gives rise to the questions he poses:

What, if any, are the visual opportunity costs of an electronic society? Why look at actual reality when we are able [to] fulfill our intellectual and emotional needs anonymously and vicariously via meta-realities?" (Jon Belkman, 2006)

Link: James Rajotte

related: Feature: Game Face: The Art of Photographing Game Players (2000-2011)

Submitted by Matteo Bittanti