Střepiny

Virtual super-intelligence used to take care for the galaxy. But once it disappeared, the universe started to whither. At first, the system of interstellar gates failed and then the planets themselves started to suffer – those that were dependent on supplies from the outside most. Navarra is one of these planets, and that’s where the larp takes place.

The first run of the post-apocalyptic sci-fi larp Střepiny has recently been organized. The game will be repeated several times, so if anyone feels interested after looking at my pictures, they will have a chance to register at the Střepiny web.

The larp’s atmosphere is undoubtedly very strong. After all, it’s situated in an underground shelter, it’s filled with technology, costumes and masks. Not that costumes and masks wouldn’t be usual in other games, but here they are supplied by the organizers themselves, in order to fit the setting precisely. For example, the uniforms of Bio-Drone Industries employees certainly add to the atmosphere, as well as the masks for different species – they all used to be human, but in the golden era of genetics, different subspecies of the human race were bred and not all of them have human appearance. There’s also a little robot that moves around the game and interacts with everyone he meets. However, the game is not only full of light moments – on the contrary, it’s very dark, by story as well as by the lighting.

As to the photos… a week ago, during the preparations, I visited the shelter to ascertain how much light will be provided and to be able to deal with it. It was really bad, my camera almost didn’t have a chance, so it was clear I’d have to borrow something more modern – this issue was solved by Hač, no problem in that. But the real problem came up during the game itself – half of the planned lighting had to be shut down because of the capacity of electricity inputs. The electricity for the television studio was much more important for the game than a bit of light. As some form of an alternate solution, I was provided with a head flashlight, which I tried to use to light the photographed scenes some more.

The resulting pictures are dark, full of static and variously coloured (almost all the remaining lights were coloured) or lighted by UV (which does marvellous things with the UV filter in my lens). However, the technical imperfections of the photos from Střepiny might add them in atmosphere; after all it is a world where technology is a relic from the past and its use is close to a religious ritual. And I was a mere corporate photographer/journalist.