Future games may even include virtual DSLR cameras complete with aperture and depth of field control as well as manual focus, zoom, exposure adjustment, and flash — all the essential tools of a modern photographer. Would virtual photography then be a valid form of photography? Smith is excited to see how both sides of the debate deal with these sorts of technological advancements.

In the meantime, many are sidestepping the ontological questions in favor of getting down and dirty with virtual cameras in virtual environments. One such person is Tess Baxter, better known as Tizzy Canucci in the persistent virtual world of Second Life. (Her virtual photos are posted on Flickr and worked into essays on WordPress.) Unlike Harris and Smith, who have little real-world photography experience, Baxter has years of professional photography under her belt. She says that photography in a virtual world is essentially very similar to photography in the real world because it's three dimensional. "You navigate yourself around space and you're thinking about where the cameras can be placed," she explains.

She's not sure how or why she got into taking photos of virtual lives and environments several years ago, but she's fascinated by the aesthetics of it. Almost everything you see in Second Life was created by its inhabitants. The choices people make in designing their piece of the world and the visual styles that they present are informed as much by their imagination as by the creation tools and pre-made objects at their disposal. The result is something that both reflects and diverges from reality. "Those things that people change and the things that they don't are I think quite revealing," Baxter says.