Photographs or Screenshots?

( pop over and check out my latest photography adventures here at The Runes of the Gatekeeper’s Daughter)

I’ve read some wonderful posts and comments recently on this topic (see below). It makes for a thought provoking and imaginative discussion.  I belong to a few groups on Flickr who do not allow any SL screenshots and I’ve listened to some angry diatribes as to how  Second Life images have taken over Flickr groups. I admit the number of SL groups on Flickr is quite prodigious, but a few of them like Blue Moon Gallery and Kultivate Magazine will take both virtual and RL shots and I post to both. So for those who know me as the Dune Mouse on The Runes of the Gatekeeper’s Daughter and the few who might know me from one of the virtual galleries..

I admit rl photography is my passion. But…

Art imitates life? A woodland in SL and one out back of my rl home.

 

 

what constitutes art? I love portraits and was quite pleased with my virtual “bean sidhe” Aiobhill, on left which was picked as “image of the day” on the Kultivate Magazine Blog.

 

 

Many virtual artists and sculptors have a brilliant eye for  light and design and often use the platform in more abstract ways to present concepts and ideas,whether social, spiritual or psychological.

Below is a virtual image from my story The Siren’s Bones (using a real girl in an sl setting), and the beautiful and fanciful watercolour build by rl artist Ceakay Ballyhoo who brought my “Tales of the Tuatha” to a virtual setting.

 

 

And, what about the builders! To me they are the true artists and story tellers. I’m paying homage to their talent when I take a “screenshot.” They use the pixel spaces to paint amazing and imaginative landscapes and their animated canvases allow others to enjoy and create stories of their own.  And thus the progression through time, of storytelling,  literature, art and movies culminates now in immersive virtual theater.

forests and temples of the imagination in all worlds

 

 

My Jennifer

Tahiti Rae’s Evre

I love the storytelling aspect of the virtual world and the fantastical landscapes, though I am old fashioned.  I still like the tactile experience of holding a camera and venturing out into a more physical and full sensory event, like climbing old stone steps or feeling the wind on a forest path, which a virtual world cannot give me.

Creative editing is a separate project and it matters not where the picture originated. Visions become art and poetry.  I applaud the artists of Second Life and other virtual worlds. If an image moves me in any way or provokes a thought, I consider it art.

I would have loved to include the work  of others but out of respect for copyright do instead check out these great virtual art blogs and the thoughtful discussions and comments. Some of the machinima created by these same artists is amazing.

https://katebergdorf.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/the-validity-of-virtual-photography/

https://magickthoughtssl.com/2017/05/16/the-validity-of-virtual-photography/

https://huckleberryhax.wordpress.com/2017/05/20/is-a-picture-taken-in-sl-a-photograph/

https://boudiccaamat.wordpress.com/2017/05/21/virtual-photography-valid-or-not/

Check out my sidebar for just a few of the many virtual artists, builders, writers and