Artist Turns SL Screenshots Into Dark Re-Imaginings of Classic Fairy Tales; UPDATE: Not Screenshots But Avatar Morphs of Uncredited RL Photos

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

UPDATE, 11/5: While I loved Xhiva's pictures, I don't love that they are morphs of her avatar’s face grafted onto someone else’s work. What’s really depressing is the artists she used do not get any credit at all.  (As readers have pointed out.)

The uncredited image of Snow White is “Hunger White” by Fernando Filho morphed with an avatar’s face. 

The uncredited picture of Red Riding Hood is also a morph with a photo of the actress Blanca Suarez taken for a Spanish television series of adult fairy tales.

Her image called “Bohemian” is also a morph of this photo, a free use Creative Commons permission image, but her Flickr page doesn’t mention its origins, or that the image is not based on an SL screenshot. She added her avatar’s face to the photo, used filters to lighten it and make it look more retro. She has skill which should be better used making original images using the landscapes and decor of Second Life. 

It is one thing to take inspiration and seek to do homage or recreate another work. Kamera Klub even recreated The Garden of Earthly Delights. It is something completely different to take someone else’s photo and stick your face in it. This is morphing, a disreputable sector of SL Flickr images. What is most appalling is Fernando Filho generously provided a tutorial to recreate “Hunger White”, albeit in real life. 

Xhiva is very skilled and while I noted some of her pictures included real life imagery, I thought she limited it to background composites. I was mistaken. Art is not just the skill, it is the idea, and you cannot be an artist with other people’s ideas. Morphing is a technical skill, not an art. She’s very good at it, better than most, which will suit her very well if she wants a career in creating political disinformation deep fakes.

“Vagrant Snow White” is pure genius. Snow White is framed by the man’s shoe entering the picture and the women’s show leaving it. Snow White is in her traditional costume except for her eyes, darkened by her mascara and tears. I love the details, the pushcart vendor, the contrast between the sun-washed sky and the gritty street. 

Another fairy tale-inspired image after the break:

“Wolf Blood” gives us another fairy tale. I love the super-saturated colors, the red is almost alive with its intensity. It has the whitest whites and darkest shadows. I think this story does not end well for the wolf.

Among her non-fairy tale images, I love “Bohemian” from Xhivha Resident. Her styling is excellent, the hair, clothing, even the car are of an era. She looks like the Mod Squad at the beach. I love the desaturated effect, making it look both sun-drenched and aged, as though it were taken during the Summer of Love. 

Xhivha Resident’s photostream is compelling with pictures illustrating fairy tales, movie scenes, and other fictions. I like her work, though some elements appear to be from real life, forming a composite of first and second life. 

See all of Cajsa's Choices here. Follow Cajsa on Flickr, on Twitter or on her blog. 

Comments

[Tary]

Oh well,
the first one is by Fernando Filho
https://iso.500px.com/photo-tutorial-hunger-white/?fbclid=IwAR2f7wqEzQAkob0CiSbnouePRQaGVSOd844ciAFT4I6ILQmuD0KfL1UUiFc

and little red riding hood is by an Spanish artist, although sometimes I've seen it credit to Annie Leibovitz
https://arthur.io/art/manuel-de-los-galanes/red-riding-hood

[Tary]

and the third one is all over the internet, it is a photo from at least 2019

This is just morphing an SL head in someone else work, without crediting the original artwork artists.

https://www.vortexmag.net/en/5-tips-to-travel-safely-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/

[Ghoul]

The comment on her Snow White image was removed but that image she used without permission of the actual creators nor did she bother to even credit who made the original picture making it seem as if this was her creative idea. The original photo was replicated from an illustration. Xhivha morphs her images onto photos without permission. She did not create that image and she does not credit the original artists for these images which is unethical. Here is the original Snow White picture plus the article on how they made it. https://iso.500px.com/photo-tutorial-hunger-white/

[Kateye]

If I may contribute with constructive criticism, I suggest to the curator of this column to use one of the many reverse image search engines (such as the NooBox app, which meta-searches through several) next time.

When you see high quality artistic creations in a Flickr stream that is a hodge-podge of different images in different styles, most of them rather crude and mismatched morphs, I believe it is worth spending the few seconds it take to run a search of that kind. Loved your previous posts, most of which get no comment, who have featured fantastic artists and valuable tips, so by all means keep up the good work covering the world of SL Photography!