If the landscapes and portraits featured in Thibault Brenet‘s work seem otherworldly, that’s because they are; the Lille, France-based artist pulls screen shots from video games like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and presents them in the style of fine art photographs.
“These games are inspired by American popular, historical and political culture,” he told TIME Lightbox. “They involve getting through missions — murder, blackmail, theft and escape, enemy liquidation, bombing or even the occupation of territories such as Afghanistan. I chose to explore these games against the natural will of my avatars, the one that the usual player would use. I chose to do it as a photographer.” Click through to check out a slideshow of his work, and let us know what you think of the line-blurring concept in the comments.
Thibault Brunet, Pvt. Casey from the series First Person Shooter, 2009
Thibault Brunet, Sgt. Foley from the series First Person Shooter, 2009
Thibault Brunet, Untitled Landscape 5, 2010
Thibault Brunet, Untitled Landscape 7, 2010
Thibault Brunet, Untitled Landscape 8, 2010
Thibault Brunet, Untitled 1 from the series Karachi, 2009
Thibault Brunet, Untitled 9 from the series Karachi, 2009
Thibault Brunet, Untitled 12 from the series Karachi, 2009
Thibault Brunet, 12-10-2007-23h30 from the series Vice-City, 2009
Thibault Brunet, 13-10-2007-21h35 from the series Vice-City, 2009