Rija Faisal
Q. According to Mountfort et al. (2018), what are the three main genres of cosphotography, and how did they historically develop?
Cosplay photography, or cosphotography, refers more to the subject matter of the cosplay which is being photographed rather than any specific type of genre. In cosphotography, the cosplay itself is the subject of what is being photographed.
Just as other “types of photographers”, cosplay photographers can also range from occasional hobbyists to full-time professionals. Although this is a bit rare, some cosplay photographers are even paid to cover grand cosplay events such as comic conventions, to take photos for posters, and to collaborate with cosplayers to publish books.
While cosphotography might not in itself be a particular form of a genre, specific genres within cosphotography, however, do exist.
According to Mountfort et al. (2018), there are three main genres of cosphotography:
- Runway: Glossy and glam, this is a style of cosplay photos one would associate with fashion magazines. The emphasis on these types of shots is to capture the cosplay character in the most flattering way. These shots require quite a lot of planning and preparation, often months in advance. Props might be introduced into the photos to embellish the final product.
This style also requires a bit of post-processing. Often camera shots do not come out looking the way one would want them to look, so some edits are done to make the picture look as perfect as possible, these may include tweaking exposure and setting saturation, adding special effects or retouching.
2. Hallway: The hallway shot is a common type of a cosphotographic shot. The photograph is shot in a relaxed, almost formal style, so it appears as if the photographer just happened to come across a particularly interesting cosplay by chance and captured it with a quick snapshot. The result of the photo is such that it appears fun and spontaneous, and reflects the cosplayer’s excitement of the cosplay event.
3. Studio Portrait: Casual portrait shots focus all of the camera’s attentions on the cosplayer, and the attempt here is to try to capture the true “essence” of the character being portrayed by the cosplayer, an element that can often end up blending in with the background in quick snapshots.
Portrait shots are not spontaneous. They require good planning and communication. When capturing a studio portrait, it is the photographer’s job to make sure the cosplayer is “isolated” in the shot, i.e, there is no busy or distracting background in the photo which might result in attention being driven away from the cosplayer and the character he/she is portraying. The studio portrait photographer must be somewhat familiar with the character, as then they can look for shooting locations they know will suit the character, as the right location enhances the character’s story.
Costuming in early Worldcons provided important models that later became adapted into cosplay Mountfort et al. (2018). Costumes would go on to be showcased in two major convention settings.
The first was in formally staged costume competition. These originated in annual Masquerades – fancy dress balls- , and the second was in more informal spaces for conventions. These eventually led to the term “hallway” costumes. These two convention settings (formal and informal) gave rise to the emergence of two photographic cosplay genres: the competition “runway” shoots and the hallway snapshots.
By the 1970s, a third photographic genre had emerged, that of the studio portraits. Back then, these types of shots were generally staged at convention centers rather than in proper photographic studios. These shots resemble fashion studio-style photographs. In early examples of studio shots, portraits were kept large and props were kept few. Nowadays, though, more props are often introduced, and the use of a blue screen is utilized, to get a clearer and a better image quality.
References:
Mountfort, P. Pierson, Smith, A. Geczy, A. (2018) Planet Cosplay Intellect Books.
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