This Is What You Look Like Playing Video Games, Kids

Photojournalist Robbie Cooper — whom you may remember from his book Alter Ego: Avatars and their Creators, in which flesh and blood gamers were photographed and paired with their virtual world counterparts — has another fascinating, if brief, visual project focused on gamers. Dubbed “Immersions,” it showcases the intense facial concentration, blank stares and slackjawed tongue-work most of us exhibit while playing games.

Some are hilarious, some are puzzling — what’s that kid crying over at 1:56? — and some are a little sketchy, considering some of the games I recognise by sound only are definitely M-rated kill sprees. Regardless, I found it a fascinating 4 minutes. Anyone feel like offering some help in identifying some of the games being played? I can pick out a few — GTA IV, Call of Duty 4, Virtua Fighter 5(?) — but most are just on the tip of my tongue.

Immersion [The New York Times via Waxy]