I dont like Cosplay photography. At least, the vast majority of it. And until recently I couldnt articulate why. The photos are excellent. Amazing. Wonderful use of lights, beautiful costumes, and great composition. Thousands of amazing photographs float across my newsfeed and I couldnt care less. Now I know. In one word: story. My background is in photojournalism. I never had an interest in either studio or art photography. My favorite photos are often not well composed. They are grainy. Out of focus. Blown out. Blurred horribly. But they are powerful. Robert caps at D-day. Marines trying to rescue a fallen brother. Add in then other elements and they become seared into memory. The Iwo Jima flag raising. The Marlboro marine at Fallujah. A little girl clutching a pink teddy somewhere in Iraq. They tell a story. You may not have the details, but you want to know more. There is something happening there. An emotion. You see a glimpse of humanity, captured in a 5x7. Our triumphs and joys. Our grief and shame. Its why I love movies. Because some movies can do the same: encapsulate the human experience into two hours of audio and visual delight. But I rarely feel that in Cosplay photography. It is sugar candy. Gorgeous to look at, but ultimately devoid of substance. When I think of powerful imagery, there are but a few photos that spring to mind. They are buried inside a deluge of spectacle. Much as Hollywood itself is often found buried in visual delight at the loss of story. I want to feel when I see a photo. Feel something beyond thats a nice picture. But when I look over my Cosplay pictures and compare them to what I shot for news, it lacks...well...heart. Ive been trying to think of an angle to reapproach my Cosplay photography so it can be something I am proud of, not simply rote, by-the-numbers processes. The goal should not simply be to get a picture of a cool space trooper, princess, or monster costume. It should capture the feeling of patrolling with a trooper, of being a princess, of being stalked by a creature. Or maybe Im taking this photography thing way to seriously and should go back to my original pursuit of being a war photographer.
Posted on: Thu, 08 May 2014 09:13:45 +0000
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