Evan Amos

Evan Amos (born 1983)[1] is a photographer of stock photography of video game consoles, which he licenses freely to the public domain. He contributes these images to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, and as of 2015 works on The Vanamo Online Game Museum, a free digital archive of video game hardware.[2] As of 2018, he resides in Brooklyn, New York City.[1]

Evan Amos
Evan Amos in an interview with the Wikimedia foundation, 2016
Born1983 (age 39–40)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPhotographer
Years active2010–present
Known forFreely licensed photos of video game items

Work
The first picture of a game console Amos made for Wikipedia is of the Wii.

Being "annoyed" at the poor quality of images of video game consoles on Wikipedia, Amos decided to document these systems before they were "forgotten in time". Starting in August 28, 2010, with Nintendo's Wii console, which he happened to own, Amos soon "felt addicted" and started a list of every console. He put an ad on Craigslist and met a collector in Huntington, Long Island, where he photographed various consoles from Sega and Atari. He has expressed "surprise" at the increasing popularity of his freely licensed photos in print, television, Internet, and other media – though he is still rarely credited for them.[3][4]

After purchasing and photographing video game consoles, Amos donates them to the New York University Game Center and the National Museum of Play, where he is allowed to access them at any time.[4] His library expanded to food items.[5]

In 2013, Amos raised US$17,493 on Kickstarter to expand his hardware collection and build the Vanamo Online Game Museum, for online preservation of the history of video games.[6][7] It is intended to include an extensive history of each console and its development.[8]

On November 6, 2018, Amos released a book published by No Starch Press, titled The Game Console: A Photographic History from Atari To Xbox, showcasing video game console photos, their hardware, and some history.[9][10] A second edition was published in 2021.[11]

Selected works

Reception

Destructoid called Amos "gaming's most popular photographer".[2] Popular Science called him "gaming's most famous photographer".[12] Kotaku called The Game Console "an outstanding book for people who like looking at video game consoles".[10]

See also

References
  1. "User:Evan-Amos/AboutMe – Wikimedia Commons". commons.wikimedia.org. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  2. North, Dale (March 11, 2013). "Evan Amos is gaming's most popular photographer". Destructoid.
  3. Amos, Evan (October 29, 2013). "The power of Wikipedia: How I became gaming's most popular and anonymous photographer". Gamasutra.
  4. Larson, Eric (November 10, 2013). "Introducing the Invisible Photographer Whose Photos Are Everywhere". Mashable.
  5. ""It's incredible that history decays almost immediately": Evan Amos and the Vanamo Online Game Museum – Wikimedia Blog". blog.wikimedia.org. August 17, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  6. TraceyLien (October 31, 2013). "Preserving video game history one photo at a time". Polygon.
  7. "The Vanamo Online Game Museum Kickstarter campaign". Kickstarter.
  8. Hockenson, Lauren (November 1, 2013). "See a Wikipedia photographer's Kickstarter campaign for an online video game museum". Gigaom.
  9. Amos, Evan (November 6, 2018). The Game Console: A Photographic History from Atari to Xbox (1st ed.). No Starch Press. ISBN 9781593277437.
  10. Fahey, Mike. "An Outstanding Book For People Who Like Looking At Video Game Consoles". Kotaku. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  11. Amos, Evan (September 8, 2021). The Game Console 2.0: A Photographic History from Atari to Xbox (2nd ed.). No Starch Press. ISBN 9781718500600.
  12. Lechter, Colin (November 1, 2013). "You've Never Heard of Gaming's Most Famous Photographer". Popular Science.

Sources
  • Media related to Evan-Amos at Wikimedia Commons
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