Still Life with Rock Band: Box Art Photography

Editor’s note: Maybe games aren’t art, but Brian shows us that video game boxes certainly can be. His formal experiment in still-life photography sticks game cases in surprising yet harmonious locations. I hope Brian shares more of his photographs on Bitmob in the future. -Brett


boxart-6210

The Question

If publishers placed video game boxes in artificial and/or tangental tableaux to advertise their games, what would the photography look like?

Also, I need to practice still-life photography.

 

The Inspiration

This recently posted collection of old game magazine ads, along with my only remaining mid-1990s copy of EGM: Issue 74, September 1995. Front cover: hand-drawn picture of Scorpion and Kitana from the Mortal Kombat series and a small photograph of John Madden. Back cover:

mmx

Note the ESRB rating chopped off on the bottom right. I’d forgotten how long they’ve been around.


The Restrictions

  • Box art must be identifiable
  • Plenty of area around the box art for copy/screenshots (or should I say bullshots?)
  • Anything else in the photo should be either a mock-up or a real-world item related to the game. Bonus points if the relationship only makes sense after you’ve played the game.


The Results