We post galleries from major cosplay shows all the time, and they’re always excellent, but for the recent New York Comic-Con one photographer wanted to do things a little differently.
Wanting to try something beyond just taking nice photos, veteran photographer Andrew Boyle (disclaimer: I wrote the foreword for his book) thought that for this year’s show he’d try and make the cosplayer “the sole focus” of his work.
“After my cosplay photo book ‘Heroes & Villains’ came out in 2017, I thought I’d relax it up a bit with the subject matter, but it kept pulling me back; the effort, the enthusiasm and the sense of community amongst the costumed fans”, Boyle tells Kotaku. “I shoot in a uniform style inspired by the portraits of Richard Avedon, so that the sole focus is the subject without background distraction.”
“I also work in collage pieces and motion I wanted to integrate a unique hand made feel for each selected subject. For some, I used cut out pieces that referred to the character, others were repetition of shapes, or colour blocking with paper and textures. It was a way to differentiate from other cosplay photography, all of which has it’s own approach, and take a different feel to celebrate all the effort and energy the NYCC crowd brings. Plus I love reading the reactions people have to seeing themselves portrayed in such a way.”
The result is this heavily-stylised gallery which, by removing the usual convention background, really lets each cosplayer, their outfit and their performance shine.
Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
Cosplayer: alexinthecupboard as Jobu Tupaki
Scream
Cosplayers: Madge and Drew as Drew Barrymore and Ghostface
Marvel
Cosplayer: Jason as Galactus in traditional Hindu wedding coat
DC
Jamal as Lex Luthor
Handmaid’s Tale
Oneida as Pearl
Stranger Things
Elijah as Eddie Munson
Star Wars
Meghan, Steven and Mel as Sith Princess Leia & Red Guards
The Little Mermaid
Ru as Ursula and Vanessa
Power Rangers x TMNT
Amir as Green Power Ranger Shredder
Marvel
Casey as Eternity
Garbage Pail Kids
Sam as Adam Bomb
DC
Justin as Lobo
Fartman
Clark as Fartman aka Howard Stern
Disney
Able as a Disney Carousel
Halloween x Austin Powers
Scotty as Micheal Myers & Mike Myers
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Rachel as Kiki
Street Fighter
Aiesha as Cammy
Hocus Pocus
Joshua, Tom and Philip as The Sanderson Sisters
DC
Mic as Mister Freeze
DC
Alex as Peacemaker
Marvel
Ariel as Doctor Strange
The Sandman
Adam as Dream
Marvel
Erin as Chainmail Iron Man
Marvel
James as Daredevil
Masters Of The Universe
Matt and Randy as Battle Armour Skeletor and He-Man
Marvel
Will as Doctor Doom
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