In-Game Photography Honored With Award

A Red Dead Redemption 2 screenshot has won a virtual photography contest at the London Games Festival.

Joe Meizies took the prize with a landscape shot at virtual sundown, taking advantage of the game’s environmental lighting.

The submissions selected as finalists were displayed on pop-up stands in London’s Trafalgar Square during the festival.

Perhaps controversially, entrants were allowed to use post-production techniques after taking the screenshot. However, that could be argued as being as much of a skill as finding the image in-game (and adjusting game camera settings) in the first place.

The judges, drawn from both the games and photography industries, were looking for shots that were “evocative, aesthetically impressive and [where entrants had] proven technical awareness where using post-production tools.”

There was no limit on the age or platform of the game. Other subjects included The Last of Us, Horizon Forbidden West and Cyberpunk 2077.

The full set of finalist entries is available in a Google Drive folder.