marco-manray-photographer-in-second-life

He started to travel and take photographs in the Net since 2003, after the publication of his "Internet Landscape" Manifesto where he set up the concept of net-photography.
In 2005 he published ARENAE a b&w reportage from the battlegrounds of the net.
Like a modern-day Robert Capa he entered as "embedded" reporter in war games like Quake III, Enemy Territory and Half-Life Counter Strike. The photos look dramatically like real war photos, like real war photos looks like videogames.
From february 2005 he is resident in Second Life as Marco Manray, an artist-photographer who documents the evolving of the metaverse with his stories and his images.
His images from Second Life have been published by international magazine as Liberation (paris), El Pais (madrid), Repubblica (milan), Elle (madrid-milan) , AD (milan).
Author of the book “IO, REPORTER IN SECOND LIFE”, Shake Ed., Milano nov 2007
The book starts with the story of the making of the reportage for Liberation, "Votez Virtuel", during the presidential election in France in 2007, and a photo from a virtual world went on the first page of a newspaper.
Left the interest for reportage, in 2008 Marco Manray starts a research about landscapes in virtual worlds, with the black and white series "Why is there something rather than nothing?", photographies taken in Second Life wild areas still untouched by man, where Manray roams, wearing Ansel Adams’ shoes in a metaphorical West.
In summer 2008 he leaved form Second Life to explore the chinese virtual world HiPiHi, for his project: “Der Neue Wanderer”. Lost in a far corner of the metaverse like a new Friedrich’s “Wanderer” he went back with a series of artworks on paper inspired at the Maoist propaganda posters and a video.
The last project “Remap Berlin”, deals with different levels of reality, mirroring back a mirror world from virtual to real. The photos shot in the virtual Berlin of Twinity, are then geo localized in google maps, re-mapped from virtual to real, and many of these photos were selected by Google for Google Earth and by this became little geographical virus.

Solo Exibitions
Der Neue Wanderer - Overfoto Gallery, Napoli – solo exhibit, september 2009
Remap Berlin - Odyssey art+performance sim in second life, solo exhibit, >> SLURL
I am not afraid - Shake Edizioni, Milano, march 2009 - part of the Festival “Border”
Marco Manray in China - AREANA Call for Artists, Uqbar.media art culture, dec 2008 – Second Life
REPLICA Galleria Overfoto , Second Life - may/jul 2008
MARCOMANRAY@Photography Museum Moya -Second Life, oct 2008
part of 10ème “Sept Off” - (R)EVOLUTION TECHNOLOGIQUE de la chambre au téléphone
Nice septembre - octobre 2008

Group exhibitions
Atopic Festival, Paris oct 2009
Marco Manray in China AREANA Call for Artists, Uqbar.media art culture, SL dec 2008
Reality Festival - Festival international d'Art dédié aux mondes virtuels, oct 2008, Door Studios, Paris
Rinascimento Virtuale Museum of Natural History at the University of Florence oct 2008 – jan 2009
Allarmi, Caserma De Cristoforis, Como, May/jun 2008
ArtecontemporaneamodernaRoma ArtFair with Galleria Overfoto - Roma 2008
Shooting Pixels – Galleria Overfoto, Napoli dec 2007-feb 2008
“NetSpace: viaggio nell’arte della Rete” Paesaggi elettronici, MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo - may 2007 Roma
The Diamond, PEAM Pescara Electronic Artists Meeting, Pescara 2006
SuperNeen, Galleria Pack, Milano 2006
Premio Michetti - Museo Michetti - Francavilla al Mare (CH)- jul - aug 2005
PEAM Pescara Elettronic Artists Meeting Pescara 22-30 october 2005
Sintesi Electronic Art Festival - Napoli 2004
BitArt - Fondazione culturale Stensen, Firenze oct-nov 2004