As the original and leading awards in the modern art of virtual and in-game photography, The Virtual Photography Awards 2024 bring together players, photographers & studio creatives with support from major gaming brands including 505 Games, Bethesda, Focus Entertainment, and Ubisoft.
Celebrating the most outstanding images captured by in-game photographers as well as recognising the best photo modes & features, these awards bring together players, photographers, and studio creatives from around the world through a shared appreciation for game-derived art.
- THE VP AWARDS | 2024 STATS -
VIRTUAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
The most outstanding images captured by digital artists using in-game photography tools, as chosen from over 2,600 entries by an expert Judging Panel of experienced photographers, and industry professionals.
Based on artistic merit, technical ability, originality, and theme interpretation, winners have been chosen across six thematic categories – Environment, Creative, Detail, Portrait, Action, and Collection – with the overall winner named as Virtual Photographer of the Year.
ENVIRONMENT WINNER
"Taken in Alan Wake 2, this show shows a street scene with added meaning. The dirty ground in the foreground represents emotional confusion, the red traffic light in the centre represents self-control, and the area between and above the buildings represents curiosity about what lies ahead. I tried to express the player’s feelings while in the game: confused, wanting to stop and not go any further, but also still wanting to know what's ahead...Did I manage to get that across? If my shot can convey the appeal of this game or make you interested in it, then that is the greatest joy as a virtual photographer."
CREATIVE WINNER
"Virtual Photography has always been a creative outlet for me. It is somewhere that I can experiment with different styles and concepts that I would not be able to do with IRL photography. This photo came to be while I was setting up a provisional photo studio in Cyberpunk 2077 and began experimenting with different lights and backdrops. I took several photos with different poses and later combined them in Photoshop; a creative process that I enjoy very much."
DETAIL WINNER
"I’m a photographer in real life and find that the beauty of video games and their worlds is just undeniable. People put love and effort into creating those worlds for us and the games I play give me the opportunity to capture pictures I will never be able to take in real life. For this shot, I wanted to show that you can continue telling and building a story in a context that in essence may not have it, like virtual sports photography. I tried to capture the exact moment when the ball is about to reach your hands, the exact moment when you can catch it or it can escape you, all or nothing. Although it may seem easy, getting the perfect moment was not. I needed a clean background and the right light to achieve that contrast in black and white. I had to try to get that moment many times, and well the result was great. Just some good music to go along with taking screenshots and editing them – a time well spent for me."
PORTRAIT WINNER
"I really marvel at the work that everyone else put into their virtual photography submissions and I’m just so grateful for a shot of my own to be even considered against all of the other amazing entries, let alone to have been chosen as a category winner. This was truly a wonderful surprise. I’d just like to say thank you to everyone involved for putting this event together each year, and for helping the art of virtual photography to grow!"
ACTION WINNER
"This shot was a remake of a similar one that I initially took in February 2024. I really liked the concept and felt that it greatly captured the theme of action, but original was slightly off symmetry-wise, so I knew that there were some key improvements that I needed to make to get the perfect image. Returning to the idea in December, I loaded up the game again and spent around 30 minutes trying to get a shot I was happy with. Looking at the finished version, I knew I had something really special."
COLLECTION WINNER
"I didn’t think I would win this award among so many other amazing pieces of work and I feel really happy about this! For me it’s more than just a contest win... What about my architectural photography style? The idea was really simple: “I want to capture city architecture”. I have done similar work before in The Matrix Awakens and decided to revisit the idea now that I am much more experienced in VP. I was satisfied with the result! Don't be afraid to explore your ideas, visions, etc. Virtual photography is a place where you can be creative without any limits."
by “JONATHAN” (REPUBLIC OF KHAKASSIA)
OVERALL WINNER
by “JONATHAN” (REPUBLIC OF KHAKASSIA)
VIEW FINALISTS GALLERIES
- THE VP AWARDS // JUDGING PANEL -
INDUSTRY AWARD CATEGORIES
Recognising the best photo mode contributions from development studios and their games over the last 12 months, the industry award winners are decided by the Community Panel & a public vote that saw over 2.3K votes cast.
Expand the category headers below to see how the votes decided the winners.
BEST PHOTO MODE
Alan Wake 2
🥇 (31.4 %) Alan Wake 2 | Remedy Entertainment
🥈 (31.2 %) Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II | Ninja Theory
🥉 (17.9 %) Stellar Blade | Shift Up
BEST PHOTOGRAPHIC SUBJECT
MOST INNOVATIVE FEATURES
BEST PHOTO MODE UX
BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT
BEST LIGHTING
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