"Robbie Cooper" (born 1969) is a British artist working in various media, including photography, video and Mod (video gaming)/video game modifications.

He was educated in Kenya and the UK, and studied media production at Bournemouth College of Art. In 2002 Cooper embarked on Alter Ego, a long-term project that explored virtual online worlds and the identities people create within them. His Alter Ego photographs have been exhibited internationally and were published as a book in 2007. Each portrait includes text written by the subject that records their online experiences. In 2008 Cooper began the Immersion project, in which he records the expressions of people watching TV, playing video games and using the internet. "Cooper's work creates a dual feedback: the players react intensely to the images they see on the screen, whereas we - the observers - react with our own feelings to their powerfully emotional facial expressions that to us, in turn, are just another image on a screen". Over time the project will build into a body of work which captures people of all ages immersed in digital media. Topics covered by the Immersion project, as of 2013, include video games, pornography, children's cartoons, comedy, sports, horror and music videos.

More Robbie Cooper on Wikipedia.

I've been advised to only do people who look like geeks and do avatars that are more expressive than the human. Sometimes people want you to cater to a prejudice, which I find just dull.

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There were quite a few people where it was actually really hard to tear them away from the screen.

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