Have you ever thought of taking pictures virtually and creating your artistic expressions without an actual camera? Metaverse photography might be one of the most cutting-edge techniques you can consider trying. Let’s dive in and see what is Metaverse photography, how to use it, and ultimately, shall we consider it as actual photography.

Metaverse technology, even though still at the very early stage of development, is the expansion of our physical world into a unified, interactive, and fully immersive virtual platform. Below I have shown an example of the current Metaverse application Spatial and its interactive space. People interact with one another through virtual avatars in the 3D simulated space. Metaverse photography, following a similar framework, is a type of new technique to take photographs through virtual technology in space. There is no need for an actual camera during the process. However, all the photography components are still playing an essential role in photography, for example, light and colour, composition, image structure, etc.

Compared to traditional photography, Metaverse photography is considered to be creative, coming from the process of doing Metaverse photoshoots. One of the first things to consider is that Metaverse photography is interactive in core.

Interactivity here refers to the process when photographers take photos, the audience can also actively participate in the creative process. How does this work? So, when it comes to audience and photographers, Metaverse photography allows inspectors to engage in reflecting and recreating the original work.

Even though there hasn’t been a fully developed Metaverse photography system produced yet, there are various speculations about how it might come to be. In Metaverse, photographers are able to use the camera attached to the wearable machines and adjust angles, colour, lines, shape, forms, and other photographic elements.

As you might have noticed, Metaverse photography is presumably a bit different from physical photography. One of the first things is that highly accurate lenses and cameras wouldn’t be needed anymore. In accordance with that, the subtle difference between cameras and physical facilities is going to be eliminated.

Some might argue that it loses the touch of photography. Accident happens a lot, especially during the process of experimenting with lights and framing. Sometimes, accidents can also raise the most surprising work and provides an outcome that is beyond expectation. The artistic expression of visual content especially depending on the situation should be taken into consideration the quality and the definition of photography. By using the attached camera and collecting visual captures randomly, does it still count as meaningful art expression?

The last bit to consider is styles. Photography styles, as the artists’ own characteristics, stand for an essential part of the work. However, the setup of the virtual environment can be potentially similar, in terms of the current limitations of Metaverse technologies. In that case, the composition and constructed elements could be relatively similar. How to stand out from all the digital figures and set-ups in digital space is still a question waiting to be answered.

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For more information on NFT, digital arts, and Metaverse, please check out my website:

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Metaverse Photography: Can we Consider it as Photography? was originally published in AR/VR Journey: Augmented & Virtual Reality Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.