Imagine being thrown into an environment that is about as real as getting into actual warfare. “Airsoft” is a recreational sport that is exactly that. After learning more, I realized that it is combat recreated to its most minute detail.

It is a sport that is taken very seriously, with each player dressing in full military apparel and using replica weapons that look and feel like the real thing. The only irony is that as real as they seem, they are merely battery operated weapons with the ability to fire plastic pellets. I wanted to photograph the realism of the sport, and at the same time capture the irony of harmlessness.