If you’re a fan of esports, odds are you’ve seen the fantastic work of Robert Paul. The freelance esports photographer has been a mainstay in the scene for years, capturing the action at a ton of live events.
Throughout the first year of the Overwatch League and more, Paul’s photos perfectly encapsulated the drama and excitement of live esports. But since that isn’t possible right now thanks to leagues moving to an online format in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul took things into his own hands to capture a different kind of image.
Last night, with the use of the Overwatch League’s replay client, Paul framed and captured his own in-game photos from some of this weekend’s online matches. And they’re nearly as good as his real-life ones.
When you have “the eye” of a photographer, it seems it doesn’t matter where you are or what tools you’re given. Paul’s imagery in-game is fantastic and should probably be framed in the OWL’s offices somewhere.
Paul has covered everything from Call of Duty to Counter-Strike and the fighting game community, but he seems to have a knack for capturing the emotions of Overwatch—and it looks like that’s carried over into the game client as well.
Most fans hope that we’ll be able to get back to live-action esports soon. But for now, this work by Paul gives us some beauty and perspective in a time of much uncertainty.
