THE COSPLAY PROJECT A Photo Series By: Mark Painter Pariani
Cosplay is a combination of the words Costume and Play. People who cosplay dress up as their favorite fictional characters, often going to great lengths and detail to bring these characters to life. Cosplayers often make all of their own costumes from scratch and spend long hours making sure every aspect of the costume is accurate as well as wearable. The most popular venues for cosplayers to appear at are comic book and sci-fi conventions, where every favorite pop-culture franchise is celebrated to its fullest. These “Cons� are often attended by thousands of people from all walks of life and being in cosplay can be an immediate ice breaker. Showing up dressed as a popular character invites conversation about that character and the construction of the costume. There are several different ways to approach photographing cosplay. The growing popularity of this hobby creates opportunities to shoot on location, in a studio, or at a convention. Also, because the characters are fictional and often exist in fantastic and exotic worlds, photoshop elements can be used to help bridge the gap between reality and fiction. This project seeks to document these elaborate costumes, while focusing on the personalities of the cosplayers themselves. For it is their craftsmanship, dedication, and total immersion into their portrayals that allows these characters to come to life.
Š Mark Painter Pariani - 2018