Evan Amos

Career

Being "annoyed" at the poor quality of images of video game consoles on Wikipedia, Amos decided to document these systems before they were "forgotten in time." Starting in 2010 with Nintendo's Wii console, which he happened to own, Amos soon "felt addicted" and started a list of every console he could think of. After putting up an ad on Craigslist, Amos came into contact with a collector in Huntington, Long Island, where he was able to photograph a collection of various consoles starting with those from Sega and Atari. He has expressed "surprise" at the increasing popularity of his freely licensed photos among print, television, Internet, and other media — though he is still rarely credited for them.

There is a huge need for this. There is no one else trying to provide this service at this level, at this quality, at this reach (Wikipedia) and in a format (public domain) that will ensure that these photos will last for decades from now. The work that I've already created and its impact thus far is a testament to the importance of the project. These are the reasons why I do this work, and why I do it for free.

In 2013, Amos raised US$17,000 through a Kickstarter campaign to purchase more hardware. His goal is to build the The Vanamo Online Game Museum, an online archive of video game hardware in order to preserve the history of video games. In addition to photographs, the Vanamo Online Game Museum is intended to include an extensive history of each console and its development.

After purchasing and photographing video game consoles, Amos donates them to the New York University Game Center and the National Museum of Play, where he is allowed to access them at any time if he needs to re-shoot them.