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| Photo: Mathew Anderson and Adam Savage at SXSW 2025 game industry conference track. |
When the team asked me to contribute to their Photo of the Year series, I wanted to showcase a scene that would help the community gain a deeper understanding of me as a community manager. I decided that this could be a unique opportunity to share a photo taken while I was working in the computer game industry. I suppose you can think of me as a gaming photographer. While the game industry doesn't exactly have a photography focus, it does deeply respect and appreciate art and the idea of 'capturing the moment'.
A community manager in the computer game industry is responsible for a range of public-facing tasks, from managing all the activity you've come to expect from me in the forums to posting on social media channels and overseeing influencer/creator relations. I've also run live, on-stage international competitions and hosted on-site gatherings to celebrate various anniversaries (a game launch, a company's birthday, a community member's own birthday... the list goes on).
Community managers tend to wear many hats, and since it's often for a broad age range of members, we (or they) frequently do quite literally wear many hats or costumes to celebrate our games...
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| Photo: Mathew Anderson at PAX East game industry convention, where he's showing booth visitors a new game just launched by his team. |
With over 25 years in the game industry, I've also directed press relations and encountered some rather interesting people. The on-site business dealings at various conferences and trade shows inevitably bump you up against a famous person or two, frequently from the TV/Film industry. You may have heard of Adam Savage, a popular TV personality who hosts the show MythBusters. While I was at SXSW 2025 in Austin, TX, I attended a panel he participated in, titled "Prototyping the Future: Imagining the Future We Want."
After the panel concluded, everyone filed out to the snacks and drinks lounge (a typical arrangement at these sorts of press environments where the host wants to schmooze you to write a good article about their presentation). While sipping on a mystery drink, I spotted Adam in the far corner. I was determined to talk with this legend and wouldn't let infinitely long snack tables and unlimited drinks get in my way. Praise be that an ice cream machine at least wasn't present...
And this is how I got my photo of the year
I walked right up to Adam, letting him finish his conversation with his assistant and another gentleman. Adam looked at me briefly, and I knew that was my cue to introduce myself. I thrust out my hand, Adam shook it aggressively with a mix of confusion and mild interest on his face, and off I went, talking about how I could be his next PR guy.
There have been many situations like this where I didn't have a business card on me, or I was so caught up in the experience that I didn't think to capture a photo of it. Always be ready with your camera! I didn't forget this time. After our brief introduction, I whipped out my iPhone (the only camera I had at the time) and asked if it was all right if we took a selfie together. And this is how I got my photo of the year, which you see at the top of the page.
Obviously, my job pitch didn't go as planned, but in its stead, I'm fortunate to have landed at an even more amazing opportunity right here at DPReview. Seriously, I somehow feel like my career has been building up to this next chapter where I can express my love of digital photography, geek out on the latest gear, and still share and participate in my love of games.
If you also geek out on new computer gadgets, such as buying way too many cables and peripherals for one individual to ever possibly use, or perhaps play a computer game or two on occasion, I would love to hear from you.
Meanwhile, I put together a slideshow of some other interesting moments I've had in the computer game industry. You'll want to ensure you scroll to the end. These aren't all from 2025, of course, as I looked much more geeky a few years ago than I think I do now...
from Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com) https://ift.tt/3Ww1BaN