Since the nineteenth century, street photographers, from the likes of Henri-Cartier Besson, to Joel Meyerowitz and William Eggleston, have been acclaimed for their flair of wandering around public places, with their cameras strapped around their neck, capturing unmediated moments as they spontaneously occur. The ethos of street photography is seeking beauty in the common, in chance encounters. Yet, in these strange times we’re living in, where self-isolation has become the norm and the streets are off-limits, street photographers are facing a challenge. They must refrain from what they are accustomed to, abstain from the very essence of their work. Instead, some street photographers are making use of new technologies to stay creative and cope with these unforeseen obstacles. The virtual world of video games is a way to satisfy their photography urge.

The movement started off with Craig Reilly, a street photographer from London and Olympus Ambassador. Looking for alternative ways to still keep an ‘eye in’ when the United Kingdom lockdown started, he found a new shooting playground in the virtual world of Red Dead Redemption 2 on his Playstation 4. After receiving good feedback, Reilly shared the images on his instagram account, encouraging others to get involved. As other famous street photographers started taking part, the #virtualstreetphotography movement gained popularity. Nico Froelich, a London-based photographer, along with Craig Whitehead, Cambridge-based street photographer who goes by the pseudonym sixstreetunder, are amongst them. The game’s largest bustling city, Saint Denis, provides an escape and a great way to stay inspired in times of confinement. In a way, it helps them stay connected to their creative process. While it is much simpler, Reilly tells us he uses a process similar to the real world, taking into account the particular lighting of a scene at a certain time of the day. He makes ‘a note of the time’ and returns to that location again if need be, moving his player ‘into the correct position to compose the shot and then wait for the right moment/character to capture’. As for Whitehead, the virtual street photography incorporates a semblant of real life, and a sense of routine: the hours he would usually spend shooting on the streets are instead spent wandering in the streets of Saint-Denis ‘practicing the same visual problem solving’ that he would have practiced on the streets, taking into account the timing and framing of the shot.

The game provides an array of photography equipment: an in-game camera, a camera from the 19th century which the protagonist possesses, allowing the player to actually look through a viewfinder to compose a shot as well as photo studios in some cities where portraits of the protagonist can be shot. Yet, shooting in Red Dead Redemption reveals its own challenges: for Froelich, the speed at which the light changes in the game definitely keeps him on his toes. The fact that everyone taking part in this is shooting in the same city poses a challenge to create something unique, Whitehead says.

Most importantly, virtual street photography is an entertaining way of keeping people off the streets, which is vital in these unique times. Photowalks should be left to photographers working with news outlets and going to the frontlines to capture these historical moments. And for anyone struggling with creativity, Whitehead suggests thinking of alternatives that make you ‘think through things in a similar way in order to pick up a valuable skill and enhance the work you usually do’.

Check out their work on their instagram accounts (@craig_reilly) (@nicofroe) (@sixstreetunder)