User blog:Unownshipper/We're All Guilty: Audio Diary Portraits of BioShock

There's a lot to love about BioShock, particularly the artistry. The level design is inspired and gorgeous, the music is flawlessly integrated and memorable, and the voice acting is emotional. These and other aspects of the art design have been discussed and praised, but I'd like to talk about the graphic design of the game.

One thing I particularly love are the Audio Diary Portraits. Simple, straightforward, and elegant, these pictures say a thousand words about many of the characters we never had the pleasure of meeting during the game. They put a face to the voices that move us and show us the everyday citizens of Rapture before things went so wrong. In my opinion, some of the images (like Tasha Denu, Martin Finnegan, and Mariska Lutz) look photorealistic, others (like Jasmine Jolene, Kyle Fitzpatrick, and Dieter Sonnekalb) look like they were simply "drawn" by talented portrait artists. Regardless, I admire the time and energy spent in creating these beautiful images.

Have you ever stopped and wondered what circumstances these photos were taken under? All of the subjects are facing straight ahead, looking directly into the camera. These are not candid pictures, these are official photographs. What if these were the identification portraits of Rapture's citizens taken when they first arrived at the Welcome Center and were processed into the city? These images certainly resemble official images like drivers license, ID card, and passport pictures, some even seem to have the Rapture seal stamped on them.



Then I saw this image and a new thought arises: mugshots! This mugshot of Tanya Williams was clearly reworked to make Diane McClintock's Audio Diary Portrait. Perhaps it's my background in academic analysis showing, but the fact that the game designers chose a woman from mugshot for the basis of one of the major participants in the Rapture Civil War leads to serious theoretical consideration.

What if all of those Audio Diary Portraits are based on mugshots? They have the pose and framing of a police booking photo. It's like say "they're all criminals." Everyone had some part to play in the Civil War and it's lead up, what occured in Rapture is the fruit of their collective guilt.

An exception to this comes in the form of Brigid Tenenbaum whose portrait is a redesign of a publicity shot of Hollywood actress Geraldine Fitzgerald. One could argue that Tenenbaum is more guilty than anyone else for her part in the creation of ADAM and Little Sisters. However, Tenenbaum takes an active role in redeeming herself: rescuing the Sisters and searching for the cure to ADAM sickness. Her reward? We see her as a good and noble figure and she is given a glamorous photo to serve as her inspiration.