Museum Belvédère and our director Merijn de Boer organised a Photo Mode competition to accompany the exhibit Arranged Realism – Art in Games. We received many beautiful pictures in the categories Architecture, Portrait & Landscape. The professional jury gave us their expert opinion and picked three winners. The winning photos will soon be added to the exhibit and the winners receive two tickets to the museum to see their entry in real life.

Architecture: Jamie Nooten, taken in Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED, 2020)

Jury member Stijn Doors:
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦.”

Landscape: Susanne van Elferen, taken in Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games, 2018)

Portrait: Cynthia Hellemink, taken in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED, 2015)

Jury member Mariska de Groot:
“𝘊𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱-𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣!”

We loved the e-mail Cynthia sent us. Her son Arthur made quite a few attempts to make her play games. Once she did, she got hooked. This ties in with the exhibit. Game worlds are so beautifully crafted, and there is a game to suit every age and taste. So grab your kids, parents and grandparents and come to Heerenveen. Congratulations to our three winners and a big shout out goes to all participants! We’d also like to thank the jury members for their expert opinions.

Arranged Realism – Art in Games is on display at Museum Belvédère in Heerenveen until 23 January 2022.

Header image: Gwinny Mulders.