Pavel Bownik

E-sports stand for electronic sports, in other words – computer games tournaments which developed at an extremely fast pace and became one of the most interesting phenomena in the new century, balancing on the meeting point of rivalry, technology and virtual reality. Its origins date back to Quake, a first-person shooter which allowed gamers to play against each other, both on the LAN and the Internet. Due to its popularity, in 1997 Cyberathlete Professional League was formed – a first ever league of professional e-gamers. Similarly to traditional sports, gaming also has its disciplines, championships, trophies, competition and sports careers. The all-yearround confrontation on the Internet ends in promotion to the European and World Championship, during which gamers represent their countries. Polish teams are among the best in the world. Multiple world champions become celebrities among teenagers, in some countries to the level comparable with the famous stars of traditional sports. For young people there is no question whether this is sport, or just an entertainment. E-sports is a contemporary, global form of sports competition that has its winners with extraordinary abilities, who make full use of new means and technologies, unavailable in the past. Large-format portraits is a typological approach to a new image of a sportsman, who, due to the electronic form of competition, does not have a physical representation known to his rival. In this project, the person of a gamer is revealed to everyone. But this is not about exposing or trying to match the reality with the mental or virtual image of individuals. This is a sort of analysis of Cyber Environment and people who constitute it and furthermore it is a redefinition of the most common image of an athlete itself.