Introduction
Hello there! My name is Kristopher Purzycki, a PhD student of digital media at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. This blog is a repository and gallery for my in-game photography and whatever thoughts emerge from this activity.
This is not intended to offer any profound insights, creative, spiritual, or academic. Aside from being motivated by my research into digital placemaking, I'm also inspired by the creativity and ingenuity of the artists and developers that engineer and fashion these curious spaces. Though highly controlled and monitored through the code, there is an enormous amount of happenstance that occurs within these spaces. In this sense the developer is a sort of god in the Deist tradition who, after molding the ball in her hands, sets it down and pushes it on its own path.
Strange Playces is a way for me to focus on the folds and foils that occur along this path.
These images are intended for the sole purpose of motivating thought about digital aesthetics and not to promote products. The personal computer used to capture these images is my own moderately robust build and not sponsored by any component manufacturers. I may or may not use Adobe Photoshop to adjust any of the images and will indicate as much if the adjustment is not obvious.
All images are taken by me but, unless otherwise noted, are the property of the software publisher and should should not be used for any other purpose. Though I don't entirely respect certain practices of the commercial gaming industry, I respect the artists and developers. Part of this project is to pay attention to those awe-stricken moments that come from their labor and love of the craft. Other than this site, the only other usage of these images will be within academic or educational contexts.
Under no circumstances will any image be used as part of a project that entails the exchange of money.