Photography is one of the most valued art forms in existence today. Society itself has come to rely on photography, in all of its various forms, to document the history of the world as it is happening. Families rely on it to capture the precious memories they want to relive over and over again. Artists use the camera to express themselves, or to record fleeting moments of inspiration.

All photographers revel in the moments when they can share the pictures that they have taken. They enjoy watching another person travel through their photos. It is little wonder, then, that the internet has started to provide an outlet for photographers who want to share their artwork in new and interesting ways.

One of the more unique methods for sharing or using photographs is through online games. There are a variety of ways that photography has worked its way into the online gaming world.

Children’s web-based browser games were one of the first genre’s to allow custom photographs to be used. These games were usually very simple, something close to ‘dress up’, but online. These games allowed the parents to upload a picture of their child which would then be pasted onto a template, allowing the child to play dress up with images of themselves.

Later, online games would allow photographs to be uploaded for the purpose of parody. One infamous game allowed you to upload photos of anyone you disliked and then would give you the opportunity to shoot at the image. A similar site would take the photograph and run it through a virtual blender.

As technology progressed, it became easier to allow custom photographs to be used as textures on 3D models. In social games, it became possible to actually wrap an image of the real user’s face around the virtual head of their avatar. Though this process is actually quite involved, it does allow a skilled photographer the chance to make an actual virtual copy of themselves.

Photography and online games are only just now starting to merge seamlessly. There is something very unique about the images and models in a game when the textures and backgrounds are actual photographs. It provides a more unique, realistic experience than an artificially rendered world.