Avatar Expression
Published April 2007 by Forseti Svarog (aka Giff Constable)Copyright 2007 by Giff Constable
Avatar Expression explores how people express themselves through their avatars in the virtual world of Second Life. The book contains 56 color photographs revealing personality across a range of beautiful, exotic, humorous and even abstract. Below you can see a few example portraits and links to where you can get a real-world or virtual version of the book.
Paperback edition available on Lulu.com (US$13.68, which is manufacturing cost with no markup and does not including shipping)
Virtual edition available inside of Second Life [slurl] (free)
Foreword
Expression. We exercise it in reality and virtuality through every action we take and every decision we make. This book is an exploration of how people in the virtual world of Second Life® express themselves through their avatars. It is not meant to be a spotlight on the most exotic or glamorous, although there certainly are some that qualify, but rather on people who put detail, care, creativity and sometimes great humor into their avatars. Each one of the avatars shown in the following pages is a head-turner for me, whether human, zombie, animal, cyberpunk or even geometric.
What is a portrait in a virtual world where facial expression technology remains in its infancy? Some, like Phinn Boffin, discover magical moments in close-ups and thoughtful lighting. For this book, I wanted to take the focus off of photography as the art form (hopefully without losing it completely) and shift the focus to the avatar as embodied personal expression.
I should also note that this book is not intended to be a “best of” or “top avatars” or any of that nonsense. There are innumerable brilliant and expressive avatars out there in Second Life; this group just happened to be some of the brilliant and expressive avatars I am lucky enough to know or have introduced to me.
The real credit for these photos belongs to the people you see. Since I wanted people to express themselves, rather than subjecting them to my vision, I asked participants to choose their own looks, poses, and even locations. I wanted to capture as much about them as visually possible in a virtual world. While I have done Photoshop work on a few images, I have tried to use it sparingly in order to preserve as much authenticity as possible.
I hope the people inside this book inspire you as they do me.
Forseti Svarog, Photographer and Editor (April 2007)
Example Pictures
How to Get
Paperback edition available on Lulu.com (US$13.68, not including shipping)Virtual edition available inside of Second Life [slurl] (free)
Below: Figments Sky Garden in Bisque, Second Life, where you can find the virtual book
