We’re constantly posting galleries from major cosplay shows, and they are always excellentbut for the recent New York Comic-Con, one photographer wanted to do things a little differently.
You want to try something other than just taking nice photos, veteran photographer Andrew Boyle (Disclaimer: I wrote the foreword to his book) thought he was trying to do the cosplayer for this year’s show “the sole focus” of his work.
“After my cosplay photo book ‘Heroes & Villains’ came out in 2017, I thought I’d lighten the subject a bit, but it kept pulling me back; the effort, enthusiasm, and sense of community among the costumed fans,” Boyle tells Kotaku. “I shoot in a consistent style inspired by Richard Avedon’s portraits, so that the sole focus is on the subject, with no distraction from the background.”
“I also work in collage pieces and movements. I wanted to add a unique, handcrafted feel to each theme I chose. For some I used cut out pieces related to the character, others were repetitions of shapes or blocks of color with paper and textures. It was a way to differentiate itself from other cosplay photography, each with their own approach, and create a different feel to celebrate all the effort and energy that NYCC audiences bring. Also, I love reading how people react when they see themselves portrayed like this.”
The result is this highly stylized gallery that, by stripping away the usual convention backdrop, really lets each cosplayer, their outfit, and their performance shine.
