Welcome to the December exhibition at Gallery Afém. This month we want to present Edd Hannay, a Game Boy Camera photographer from England.
Together with Edd, we will donate 50% of all sales from this collection to The Video Game History Foundation. The Video Game History Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and teaching the history of video games.
A world in pixels
Edd Hannay has traveled around the world with his Game Boy and a dedicated camera. During December you can view and buy his collection at Gallery Afém. We had a chat with Edd about his work.
As a creator, what do you see as benefits using a Game Boy Camera compared to a modern mirrorless camera?
Modern mirrorless cameras still don’t play Tetris quite as well as the Game Boy.
The thing that keeps me coming back is personality. The dithering hits the perfect balance between representation and letting your imagination fill in the gaps. Almost any camera you can find will create a more colourful, clearer image, but the Game Boy camera images that succeed are so distinct.
What made you pick up a Game Boy Camera in the first place? Did you buy it back in the days, or did you buy it used later on?
I picked up my first Game Boy camera in a period of collecting accessories that add non-game capabilities to the Game Boy. Companies really pushed the boat out for the Game Boy – a modem (with email client), a fishing sonar, and the official Camera and Printer. While I don’t fish much or have a dial-up internet connection, the camera was just practical enough to stick around.
Do you look at your subject in a different way compared to a more traditional photographers?
Like with a lot of lomography, the fun is in learning the camera’s limitations and then working with those. For the Game Boy in particular, I like to imagine how a pixel artist in the 90s would have tried to draw the Washington Monument in the introduction to some long lost game cartridge and find a way to take that picture.
When you’re out traveling, does the Game Boy Camera work as a tool of collecting memories in general, or just for those specific landmarks/subjects?
I pack the Game Boy when I’m somewhere new, or know I’m going somewhere that may have good subject matter – but like any camera, when you have it with you some of the unplanned shots are the ones that really bring back memories.
Statue of Liberty
One of the most iconic landmarks in the world, Statue of Liberty, pixel edition!
