Cosplay Photography and Videography

Property of Anna Fischer

I write a lot about creating a cosplay but dressing up is not the only way to be involved in this community. Photographers and Videographers are just as passionate about comics and anime but they display their passion in a different way. They work as hard as cosplayers to create their beautiful art and are a very important part of this culture.

A lot of the characters people cosplay live in worlds where it would seem impossible to replicate. However, cosplay photographers and videographers do the impossible and bring these characters to life. A lot of the people who do cosplay photography usually pursue photography in their regular lives but also hold a passion for comics, video games, and anime. It only makes sense to combine the two to bring your talent and hobby together. I have seen many wonderful photographs in which it looks as if the photographer had travel to that world and taken a real life picture. These photographs work well to share the talent of cosplayers to people all around the world thanks to social network and photo sharing sites like Facebook and Flickr.

Cosplay videographers are the ones responsible for the awesome convention music videos on Youtube. They film people in their cosplays being their character and combine all these shots into a smooth, beautiful, and musical sneak peek of the convention. They capture the life of the convention and the hard work of cosplayers. You can usually spot them out in a convention because they are carrying a ton of camera gear.

It is not easy being a cosplay photographer or videographer but it's incredibly fun. If you don't see yourself making a cosplay but really admire the work and effort put into them then you should consider pursuing cosplay photography or videography. Of course, it will take about an equal amount of work and money as well. You'll definitely need a decent camera if you are considering photographing or filming cosplays. You'll also need to have some knowledge of photo and video editing. Don't forget that you'll need to know cosplayers who you can photograph. However, all the work will pay off in the end when you are able to bring some of your favorite characters to life through your photography.

At the moment there really isn't much to do with photos and videos of cosplayers except to share them online and appreciate the cosplay. Which is nice but at the same time it comes with no gains. But some photographers like Cosplay In America and Ger Tysk have actually created photo books from the photographs that they took at conventions. I personally really like this idea because it creates a nice concrete way to chronicle the works of cosplayers here in the state. As I have stated before, I am very saddened by the lack of history there is to cosplay culture but with the creation of these books one can create a source of reference for people now and in the future to take a look into this culture of cosplay. This is also why I feel that the photographers and videographers are very important players in cosplay culture. They have helped bring out cosplay culture through sharing their videos and pictures on the internet. I also think that they can help us organize and archive all of the changes, works, and events in cosplay culture so that we are able to see how much this culture has grown.