Maxim Zmeyev (born in 1987, Saint Petersburg) is a photo artist working between virtual worlds and analog processes. From 2009 to 2022, he worked as a photojournalist in Russia and Eastern Europe, collaborating with Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP). In 2022, facing persecution as both a journalist and an artist, he left Russia; recognized as a refugee in 2025, he now lives and works in Marseille, France. Trained at Saint Petersburg State University (Journalism) and the Rodchenko Art School (2021), Zmeyev transitioned from reportage to a conceptual and research-based practice with Type 1.5.11., his graduation project and first major work of virtual photography, created within Fallout 76. His later projects explore in-game photography, media archaeology, and post-digital storytelling, materializing screen-based images through kallitype, heliography, and other handcrafted techniques. He also experiments with early and portable imaging devices such as the Game Boy Camera.