Virtual Photojournalists Document Mayhem In ‘Grand Theft Auto’ World

Photojournalism jobs may be disappearing in real life, but they’re thriving in at least one corner of the Interwebs. A handful of participants in the online version of “Grand Theft Auto” have decided it’s more fun to document virtual felonies than commit them and have formed a team of street photographers.

Members of the “Media Lens” social crew — created by film editor and amateur photographer Christopher Murrie — adorn their avatars with emblems reading “Media — Noncombatant” and “Media Pass.”

This entitles them to roam the virtual streets of GTA more-or-less unmolested. When they come across something interesting, they whip out the game’s standard smartphone and snag a screen grab. Sometimes applying Instagram-like effects. (Haven’t the people of San Andreas suffered enough?)

Just like real photojournalism jobs, the GTA role is unpaid and low-status, with fellow players complaining about everything from photographers overemphasizing the violent aspects of the game to oddly familiar “I can take better shots than that” snipes.

Image credits: Images by killerdead77, beardlace, Sparx73