No one expected to endure a pandemic but 2020 has meant many of us locked down inside, permanently. Aside from the dramatic effect it has on your social lives the impacts on creativity are stifling. I am a gamer and love to dive into some triple-A escapism but game has opened the door to indulge another of my hobbies, photography.

Screenshot art is nothing new but in recent years game studios have actively started developing ‘photo mode’ camera handling in their game environments. In a time where the vast majority of the planet are locked down and gaming has skyrocketed the emergence of these cool new tools has allowed us to explore. For me, geographically, but also in time!

I spent the first quarter of 2020 surviving a cult in rural North America where I was able to capture some beautiful landscapes in and amongst the ritualistic violence that seemed to follow me around.

I then segwayed into a mystery which was already afoot in Victorian London by way of Sherlock Holmes: The Devils Daughter. The list goes on. As an Xbox user I take advantage of their subscription service which gives me access to hundreds of titles, not every one is geared for photo mode but taking a screenshot can be done whilst on any screen, game or app. I have seen some beautiful imagery from ‘city builder’ and ‘racers’, similarly, so get out by getting online and explore these tools, create something awesome and share!

Vikki Blake at NME explores the topic further;

Point and shoot: why photo mode is one of the greatest things to come out of current-gen gaming

For amateurs, this handy tool can turn literally anyone into the next greatest landscape photographer from the comfort of their own home. Photo mode – or the screenshot button should a bespoke mode not be available – is one of the greatest things to come out of this generation of gaming. It might just be the greatest thing ever, although it’s difficult to deliver an assertion like that with next-gen on the horizon.

Read the full article at: NME