Game Art: Zul Arifin's "Real Life vs. Video Games" (2011)
Zul Arifin, Potrero's San Francisco, digital photograph, 2011
Zul Arifin, Tower for Sale, digital photograph, 2011
Zul Arifin, BIO DSL Only, Digital photograph, 2011
Zul Arifin, Auto Car City Car Wash, Digital photograph, 2011
Zul Arifin, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Digital photograph, 2011
Zul Arifin, Hayes and Octavia, Digital photograph, 2011
Zul Arifin, Roads to Lights, Digital photograph, 2011
Zul Arifin, Giant City Buddha and a Homeless Person, 2011
Zul Arifin, Universal Switch, Digital Photograph, 2011
Zul Arifin, Pigeon Point Lighthouse, 2011
Zul Arifin, Kayo's Fairy 2, digital photographs, 2011
Zul Arifin, 2nd Street, digital photograph, 2011
Compare and contrast: If British graphic designer Aled Lewis is bringing game aesthetics into the so-called "real world" by manipulating digital photographs that present an uncanny element (i.e. 8-bit, pixellated characters in an otherwise realistic setting), San Francisco-based photographer Zul Arifin is using HDR effect to transform the urban landscape into a videogame space that resembles Grand Theft Auto (take "Tower for Sale", for instance), but also Fallout 3 (the pre-apocalyptic sky of "Potrero's San Francisco", "Roads to Light", "2nd Street"), EA's skate ("BIO DSL only") and every possible racing game that you can imagine ("Auto Car City Car Wash", "Hayes and Octavia"). Or first-person shooters, for that matter ("BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir" - "Universal Swicth" is basically Half-Life 2). Or adventure games, for that matter ("Pigeon Point Lighthouse" as Myst). And RPG games, too ("Kayo's Fairy 2" as Fable/EverQuest). Quite fascinating.
link: Zul Arifin
related: Alex Lewis's "Video Games vs. Real Life" (2011)
Submitted by Matteo Bittanti (thanks to Mission Mission!)