WEEK 9 COSPLAY
- In what ways can cosphotography be understood as a form of “fan capital”?
Many cosplayers create their own costumes, but some prefer to buy them. Cosplay requires tremendous skill, dedication and ingenuity, and the finished costumes can be genuine works of art. Making or buying costumes may prove difficult, but there is also the time and effort spent on make-up preparation including hair and wig styling, the task of travelling to venues and of course the courage required to wear the costumes in public.
Cosplay is an art-form, alive and temporary and photography plays a significant part (Mountfort, 2018). As photographers it is their job to let the costumes shine and capture the true essence of those creations and to know that another work of art has been documented for posterity.
Cosphotograhy is a two-way exchange whereby the cosplayer provides the photographer with a subject and the cosplayers efforts and dedication are rewarded with acknowledgement and something tangible to take away, in what is a reciprocal relationship (Mountfort, 2018). Just as there are thousands of people who like to dress up as their favourite characters there are legions who love to photograph them. By being photographed and filmed the cosplayer can achieve visual tokens of private value and fan capital that circulates online and reaches a wider audience. While online galleries are still the dominant visual discourse of cosphotography, books, prints, coscards and emerging genres of moving image media are increasingly important, from fan-directed cosplay music videos (CMVs) and indie documentaries to network-based reality television shows (Mountford, 2018).
This fan capital or hipness allows us to understand the tension between fan-directed cosplay and commercial cosplay, heterotopian versus hegemonic control of cosplaying spaces, and supportive audience responses versus the exploitative (Mountford, 2018).
One of the tag lines is cosplay is for everyone so TV series “Heroes of Cosplay”, which followed cast members competing in cosplay events across the United States is widely panned by cosers and critics alike for its Idol-style format, misrepresented cosplay as being all about winning (Mountfort, 2018).
Because the cosphere is a community where visual tokens are in the centre of attention and exchanged between people, it is likely that these tensions will continue to circulate within the community.
REFERENCES
Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect.
Pop Genres 2020 