2008 : Fallout 3 – Virtual Tourism in Washington D.C. My third aesthetic shock in a virtual world after Unreal and Half-Life, my first real experience of an open-world RPG, and my very first actual photographs of video game. Endless landscapes, stretching as far as the eye can see, changing atmospheric effects, NPCs reacting to your actions. The simulated universe is so consistent that it exudes an innovative beauty, at the crossroads of art and technology. I feel an irresistible urge to immortalise these landscapes. Playing on Xbox 360 at the time, it was impossible for me to take screenshots. So I spontaneously took photos with a digital camera. To my surprise, this method of shooting transformed the surface of the image, with a particular and paradoxical rendering: the game seemed more realistic, the memory of the journey more « real ». Read more about the Virtual Tourism Project.

> Virtual Tourism on Behance Network – Walking, contemplation and photography in Fallout 3. Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland, year 2277. © Bethesda game studios (game designer). © François Soulignac, 2008 (video game photographer).