Category: Week 9 Questions – Cosplay

WEEK 9 COSPLAY 

1. 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. 

W9

2. In what ways can cosphotography be understood as a form of “fan capital”?

Photography plays a big part in cosplay. Photographs and video record people cosplay as a character in anime or manga performance. They are cosplaying, as a character takes time and money. Photography will be a useful resource for fans to look at and refer to someone who already cosplays their favourite character. Cosphotography helps cosplayers exchange their costume in an online network in the cosphere (Mountfort et al., 2019).

According to Elena Dorfman describe in her portraits of cosplayers that the photo of cosplayers represent in the image will show the way it communicates with fandom. Therefore the photo display should be peeled apart (or collapsed together) for the fandom viewed it (Lamerichs, 2011). Cosplayers motivate themselves to cosplay at a character they like in a fan convention. The most common is shown in the fashion delivered where cosplay photos have been taken from the camera.

Fashion show photograph will be an excellent source for fandom because fashion shows are organised for fashion culture with catwalk or stage where cosplayers can show their outfits from various angles (Lamerichs, 2011). Fashion shows where fandom can involve in the costume of the character they are based on or interested in (Lamerichs, 2011). 

The photograph will promote the costume as a central role. The fans model for the photographers can use the pictures to promote their costume activities to other fandoms. Cosplay conveys “cultural capital” (Bourdieu 1986) to other fans with the same exciting areas such as comic book convention (Ramirez, 2017). The convention allows fans to gather and demonstrate their cultural knowledge of the same culture and exciting regions to express them in the same topic or culture that they know.

Not the only photograph will be a source online for fandom, but their communities help fandom gain more knowledge and express their interesting over the internet. They can show their experience, their cultural capital to each other’s on the internet through their photos (Ramirez, 2017). Through the activities of cosplay can help cosplayers escape from reality and enter into their imaginative world. They can transform from an “ordinary person” to a “superhero”, from a game player” to a “performer”, and from adulthood to childhood (Rahman et al., 2012)

Photographed and videoed are not only taken on private value but fan capital as well in wider, mainly online networks (Mountfort et al., 2019). Understanding the subculture or fan capital photograph will help fandom understand more the frame, the issue surrounds cosphotography (Mountfort et al., 2019). Cosphotography has been updated in many platforms but cosers images of their body shaming to advertise or commercial cosplay has a bad outcome and destructive influence on the internet. Online galleries for pictures of cosphotography are in many platforms, and it is essential to commercial cosplay, they still have a cosplay music video in television shows. Cosplay requires time and money; also, it can connect in many particular ways, such as mash-up and parody. This means cosplay is not just fan-based consumerism but also a critical practice (Mountfort et al., 2019). Many cons of commercial media assist cosplayers market online fan cultures.

Cosphotography changes its form to fix with the setting and existence into a broader economy of desire to let fandom see the change of cosphotography in the cosphere that has a vast example of embodying a specific character.

References:

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2019). Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom. Intellect Books.

Lamerichs, N. (2011). Stranger than fiction: Fan identity in cosplay. Transformative Works and Cultures, 7(3), 56-72.

Ramirez, M. A. (2017). From the panels to the margins: Identity, marginalization, and subversion in cosplay.

Bourdieu, Pierre. 2002 [1986]. “The Forms of Capital.” Pp. 280-291 in Readings in Economic Sociology, edited by Nicole Woolsey Biggart. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub

Rahman, O., Wing-Sun, L., & Cheung, B. H. M. (2012). “Cosplay”: Imaginative self and performing identity. Fashion Theory, 16(3), 317-341.

1. According to Mountfort et al. (2018), what are the three main genres of cosphotography, and how did they historically develop?

Cosplay fan conventions are known to have developed genres of cosphotography, where people in cosplay do more than wearing costumes, make-up and prosthetics (Mountfort et al, 2018). Cosplay photography is inclusive of poses and gestures made by cosplayers, which is a part of the fan capital; not only does it provide a private value in fan capital, it also gives cosplayers a chance to network and form or join communities that express similar cosplaying interests (Mountfort et al, 2018). The concept of cosplay photography can be traced to its emergence circa 1908 in the United States; William Fell of Cincinnati dressed up as ‘Mr Skygack’ in a masquerade ball (Mountfort et al, 2018). The three main genres of cosplay photography are known as firstly the ‘runway’ snapshots that originated from cosplay costume conventions, the second as ‘hallway’ photography where cosplayers were photographed in informal convention spaces, and the third that developed from hallway snapshots to ‘studio portraits’ (Mountfort et al, 2018).

As the most formal genre of photography, costume convention photography or also known as ‘runway’ snapshots encompassed cosplayers that participated in convention competitions held on stages or runways (Mountfort et al, 2018). Mike Resnick’s account of the annual masquerade that inaugurated in 1940 narrates the first formal photography, while informal photographs were taken in 1939 (Mountfort et al, 2018). Formal cosphotography implied consent from cosplayers to be photographed. With such a distinction in formal and informal convention spaces, it led to the creation of two more genres as known today, those being the ‘hallway’ and ‘studio portraits’. This was enabled through technological advancements and the emergence of mass media, along with cameras that had become affordable to the public (Mountfort et al, 2018). Polaroids and instamatics from the 1950s and 1960s respectively largely contributed to black-and-white photography (Mountfort et al, 2018). Cosplay competitions resembled practices and aesthetics of fashion shows, as photographers would constantly capture different cosplayers and cosplayers would pose or catwalk on stage to display costume capital (Mountfort et al, 2018).

Hallway photography is the least formal genre of cosphotography; cosplayers are often caught out of act while being photographed which explains informality (Mountfort et al, 2018). The Mike Resnick account of the informal snapshots of 1939 convention is the first account of ‘hallway’ or informal cosphotography (Mountfort et al, 2018).  Hallway photographs are taken by an assembly of varied photographers, snapshots that range from DSLRs to contemporary media such as smartphones; these lack the specific setting in terms of backdrop and lighting (Mountfort et al, 2018). It is argued that this genre of photography is quite invasive as it occurs sans the consent of cosplayers, but Bordieu (1965) put forth his view of the ‘natural pose’, wherein humans instinctively pose toward cameras as ‘out of respect’ (Mountfort et al, 2018). Nonetheless hallway snapshots are more spontaneous than a preparation of capturing the essence of the cosplayers’ characters.

Studio portraits as the third main genre of cosplay photography emerged in the 1970s, also known as an amalgamation of the first two genres (Mountfort et al, 2018). The term for the genre ‘studio portraits’ derived not from shooting in private locations but in designated convention spaces that comprised of settings such as lighting and backdrop (Mountfort et al, 2018). Much of this cosphotography would take place during or after the convention. One of the first accounts of such genre’s photography was Angelique Trouvere posing as Vampirella in 1969, which displays aspects of studio features along with character poses (Mountfort et al, 2018). Initial studio cosphotography were staged with plain, more commonly solid colour and fabric backdrops and minimal props; contemporary studio cosphotography consists of far more props and use of advanced technology such as blue-screens (Mountfort et al, 2018). Studio snapshots often resemble fashion shoots because of its professional aspects in photography, but is mainly regarded as a fusion of hallway and runway style cosphotography (Mountfort et al, 2018).

References

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect.

1. According to Mountfort et al. (2018), what are the three main genres of cosphotography, and how did they historically develop?

Cosphotography is a genre of photography that is mostly seen at conventions where photography of people in cosplay is taken with a range of different modes and settings. The idea of photographing people in costume has existed far before the notion of cosplay with perhaps the earliest account of cosphotgraphy according to Mountfort (2018, p. 48) being from “the United States from around 1908, when William Fell of Cincinnati attended a masquerade ball held at a skating rink in Ohio dressed as Mr. Skygack.” Cosphotography includes several different genres the first being officially conducted costume competitions at conventions and secondly, the genre labeled hallways snapshots where photographs of people in cosplay are taken in convention spaces. Later in the 1970s, a third genre of cosphotography had begun, this being the studio portrait.

Official costumes competitions are the most formal genre of cosphotography that appear within conventions and feature multiple attendees of said convention who are in cosplay that participates in the costume competition, typically on a stage or runway. By presenting themselves on the runway cosplayers are consenting to photographs of their cosplay being taken and want to be seen in a more formal setting. Cosplayers will often try to act in character to heighten their performance on the runway. This genre of cosphotography emerged in “the annual Masquerade originally a kind of fancy dress ball was inaugurated at the 1940 Chicago conference” (Mountfort, 2018, p. 50). A reason for the genre’s inception may have been developments in camera technology and that technology becoming widely available to the public with affordable models.

Hallway snapshots are the least formal cosphotography genre and do not require the cosplayer’s consent, photographs taken in this style of cosphotgraphy are almost entirely shot within hallways of the convention center or inside the convention itself. Like with the official costume competitions the hallway costume emerged in the late 1930s and “casual shots are in evidence from 1939 (Mountfort, 2018, p. 50). As mentioned, hallway snapshots are far less formal than the other two genres of cosphotography and the lack of consent is a reason for this with photos looking heavily out of character. Angles are often unflattering and can show cosplayers performing mundane tasks or taking a break from the main floor.

The final genre of cosphotography is the studio portrait although the name is similar to a fashion shoot, done within a private location, and photographers hired specifically for the photoshoot, and professional cosplayers may do something along those lines. The staging is generally done in or around the convention center and not a dedicated studio. The studio portrait emerged in the 1970s, an early star of the studio portrait was Angelique Trouvere who cosplayed characters like Red Sonja and Vampirella. Studio portraits are just as formal as the costume competitions although the difference between the two is that “many of these carefully modelled shots resemble fashion studio photographs more than runway and hallway snapshots” (Mountfort, 2018, p. 51). The framing of the studio portrait is intended to look more professional; cosplayers and their photographers achieve this by selecting a photogenic location around the convention center. It results in photographs that can cleverly pass as professional without the cost associated with renting a studio space.

References

P, Mountfort. (2018). Planet Cosplay. Bristol, UK; Intellect Books.

1.According to Mountfort et al. (2018), what are the three main genres of cosphotography, and how did they historically develop?

Just as fan customs have historically achieved advances in specific genres of “cosphotography,” photography and video have served as formation agents as well as reflections on how cosplay is performed. Cosphotography appears as a target of cosplay itself. In the early days, cosplay is almost entirely based on the characters present in multi-media original text, so that, unlike modern cosplay, many costumes made by practitioners have emerged as imaginative predictions of future fashion and trends, and specific source text has been derived from providing a range of interpretations of how the characters are seeing themselves. Whereas, modern cosplay is almost entirely based on the characters present in multi-media original text so that they can accurately model the appearance and behaviour of the characters.

Photographers who take pictures of cosplayers should have an understanding of the characters and genres they are trying to shoot and draw the pose or composition of the course. Also, photographers shoot various cosplayers in three different genres: Runway, Hallway and Studio portrait.

Their history begins at the first Worldcon of the 1939 World Fair. According to Mountfort et al.(2018), early Worldcon’s costuming provided important models for cosplay to be adopted and presented costumes in two major convention settings: one was a costume contest derived from the annual formal masquerade and the other was a hallway costume in informal convention spaces. “These formal and informal convention settings facilitated the emergence of two distinct photographic genres”(Mountfort,2018). It means Runway and Hallway. The runway is linked to a fashion show or fashion magazine and requires a lot of preparation and planning before taking pictures, and produces a perfect look at the course player through correction or special effects. At the same time, the Hallway appears in the form of a quick snapshot, emphasizing naturalness and creating a more relaxed atmosphere than the runway.

Mountfort et al. (2018) explain that Polaroids soon augmented black-and-white photography in the 1950s and by the 1970s, the third genre of photography, studio portraits, became prominent overtime. Studio portraits are composed of the communication of photographers and course players, presenting more detailed and carefully modeled photographs than the previous two genres. However, the production of such pictures is also considered a combination of both genres, mainly because they are performed in temporary environments, not in real studios. But over time, due to the development of various media, “High- definition phone cameras and 4k video have made the comparatively spontaneous hallway shot both easy to shoot and share, and so hallway photography remains the most ubiquitous form, if perhaps lacking the cache of runway and studio styles”(Mountfort, 2018).

References

Mountfort 2018, Planet Cosplay (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books), Chapter 2

2. In what ways can cosphotography be understood as a form of “fan capital”?

Cosplay is a medium where a person performs fragments of a character, during this performance textual citation and photographic practices are combined and “some-times collide.” (Mountfort, 2019). With photography you can both document and arrange different elements of the cosplayer’s performance “via visual genres typically spanning those of the fashion run-way, studio and ‘hallway’ shoots” (Mountfort, 2019).
According to Mountfort (2018) photography plays a significant part in modern cosplay, although
cosplay was documented as early as in 1939 at the New York Worldcon, foreshadowing the emergence of the three genres of cosphotography, “the fashion-shoot, studio portrait and ‘hallway’ snapshot.” (Mountfort, 2018). Over time fan conventions have further formed the development of the cosphotography genres. Photography and film are now acting as a shaping agent in how cosplayers act out their performance. Cosplay can be very time consuming and cost a lot of money, and cosplayers might hope they get something or some form of capital in return for their hard work. By being photographed and filmed the cosplayer can achieve tokens of private value and fan capital that circulates online and reaches a bigger audience. Photos and video can serve as a token of value, not necessarily in the form of money but in the shape of subcultural capital and happiness.   Cosphotography aren’t limited to online publication, but is also being published in books, sold as prints, coscards and as film and media files, you also have the concept of cosplay music videos (CMVs).

There are a lot of tension surrounding cosphotography, Mountfort (2018) mentions the issues between fan-directed cosplay and commercial cosplay and the “heterotopian and hegemonic control of cosplaying spaces”. Heterotopian meaning a vision of the cosplay community as a progressive/transgressive space where people can “enact a kind of collective détournement in the mass requisitioning of intellectual property from their legal rights holders and make it their own.”
On the opposite side you have the threat: commercialism, sexism and racism. You also have “flaming and body shaming” which can create a nasty vibe, especially on online forums.
 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.
The commercial space and other social forces is a constant threat to the heterotopian side of cosplay, reality TV series such as Heroes of Cosplay and Cosplay Melee are being criticised for turning into a competitive sport rather than a collaboration or ‘team work’ between the people in the cosplay community (Mountfort, 2018).

Cosphotography can be understood as a for of fan capital because it can function as a currency, as mentioned earlier it creates personal value for the cosplayer but the photos/videos created are also a valuable item to fans of cosplay or of the character the cosplayer is portraying. Just like hard cash it can be traded from photographer to cosplayer (or vice versa), from photographer to fan or between cosplayer and fan. It can increase the popularity of both the photographer and cosplayer, and it can provide the fan with the most valuable thing of them all; happiness.

Sources:

Mountfort 2018, Planet Cosplay (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books), Intro and Chapter 1

Mountfort 2018, Planet Cosplay (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books), Chapter 2

Mountfort 2019, Cosplay at Armageddon Expo

In what ways can cosphotography be understood as a form of “fan capital”? 

Photography is an important part of modern cosplay in that it reflects and shapes how cosplay is performed (Mountfort et al, 2018). Cosphotography can be looked at as a form of fan capital as it is a permanent media that promotes and documents cosplayers, it is a two-way exchange, and it legitimizes or validates the cosplayer’s labor.  

According to Mountfort et al (2018), photography and video can provide cosplayers with both private value and fan capital to distribute within the wider cosplay community. Cosplays accumulate “subcultural capital or a quality of hipness” every time they are photographed by their peers (Hale, 2014, p. 9). These photographs are then circulated on social media or online platforms such as Deviantart, Instagram, Tumblr and dedicated cosplay websites (Mountfort et al, 2018). This allows cosphotography to be consumed and recirculated by others, generating interest in the cosplayer’s costumes and performances (Hale, 2014).  

Cosplay performance is typically short-lived as the costume is only worn by the cosplayer for one day at a time, so cosphotography can help make the performance longer lasting as it is a permanent form (Mountfort et al, 2018). This serves as a personal token to the cosplayer of their labor, but also as a way to promote their work and document it (Mountfort et al, 2018). For example, Cosplay Music Videos (CMVs) uploaded onto YouTube can serve as promotional material to the cosplayers featured, a documentary of their work, and can even help them profit from it. The MCM London Comic Con has a CMV supercut on YouTube featuring cosplayers at the convention over the years. While their video is mostly a fundraiser for the Equal Justice Initiative, in their video description they include a list of all the cosplayers featured, as well as the social media channels and Patreon for the hosts of the video, The 86th Floor (The 86th Floor: Cosplay and Cons, 2020). This is one example of cosphotography being used as a form of capital to help promote the cosplayers, increase their influence and spread, and even profit from it. 

Cosphotograhy can also be considered a form of fan capital in that it’s a two-way exchange between the cosplayer and photographer. The fashion photography and impromptu photo shoots provide the photographer with a subject, and the cosplayers with important acknowledgement and something tangible to take away, in what is a reciprocal relationship (Mountfort et al, 2018). According to Lamerichs (2011), the photographer can use the photo session as a way of developing their photography skills further while obtaining a shot of a character they love, while the cosplayer sees getting their picture taken as a compliment and acknowledgement of their hard work. They also often receive print outs or copies of their photo (Mountfort et al, 2018). This is particularly important as cosplayers are not just clotheshorses for a particular collection, but are showcasing what they themselves have made (Mountfort et al, 2018). This is also why selfies are not common at cosplay conventions, as cosplayers hope to have their picture taken by others to provide them with a form of tribute or payment, or to have their images circulated through online platforms (Mountfort et al, 2018).  

Cosphotography also legitimizes and validates a cosplayer’s labor. Scott (2015) argues that compared to other forms of fan production, such as fanfic, cosplay is expensive to make. But the cost of fabrics, materials and makeup, as well as the tactile nature of the finished product, allows cosplay to be seen as a legitimate form of labor (Scott, 2015). In their study of cosplayers, Taylor (2009) found that cosplay is often devalued by society as it is not seen as productive work. It is viewed as an unproductive hobby in which fans devote time and money on products that are worthless (Taylor, 2009). This shows a divide in the time and labor cosplayers put into their work and the worth it is given by society. Cosphotography legitimizes the amount of work that is put into cosplay as it validates the cosplayer by acknowledging their labor. For example, a study by Ramirez (2017) found that their participants saw the recognition they received from a fan asking for their photo as a form of cultural capital. The less attention and recognition they received from fans, the less likely the cosplayers were to build identity, social and cultural capital, and social cohesion (Rameriz, 2017).  

While there are questions around the sometimes-exploitative nature surrounding cosphotography, as well as who owns the product, cosphotography enables fans to go from passive consumers into active producers of culture (Mountfort et al, 2018). 

References 

Hale, M. (2014). Cosplay: Intertextuality, public texts, and the body fantastic. Western Folklore, 73(1), 5-37. 

Lamerichs, N. (2011). Stranger than fiction: Fan identity in cosplay. Transformative Works and Cultures, 7(3), 56-72. https://doi:10.3983/twc.2011.0246  

Mountfort, P., Peirson-Smith, A., & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect. 

Ramirez, M. A. (2017). From the panels to the margins: Identity, marginalization, and subversion in cosplay [Master’s thesis, University of South Florida]. Scholar Commons. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7946&context=etd 

Scott, S. (2015). “Cosplay is serious business”: Gendering material fan labor on Heroes of Cosplay. Cinema Journal 54(3), 146-154. 

Taylor, J. R. (2009). Convention cosplay: Subversive potential in anime fandom [Master’s thesis, The University of British Columbia]. The University of British Columbia Library. https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0067114  

The 86th Floor: Cosplay and Cons. (2020, June 12). MCM London Comic Con 2020 – COSPLAY MUSIC VIDEO SUPERCUT [Video]. You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KJuZez817o&ab_channel=The86thFloor%3ACosplayandCons  

Cosplay is the act of citing or referencing a text from popular  culture, by dressing up and embodying a certain character. It is a fan practice that is popular all over t in he world, though0020de3originally it emerged from intersecting cultural influences from Japan and the United States. Conventions which are dedicated to comic books and genres from popular culture have acted as a cultivating force in the world of cosplay, allowing for the practice to become a serious business. The costumes and attire have become more elaborate, cosplayers putting in  a significant amount of effort in order to portray their interpretation of the text and character they are referencing. Because of how much effort goes into their costumes, props, hair and makeup, cosplayers feel that gaining some sort of fan capital would be desirable. This is where cosphotography comes in, as this is a way for cosplayers to capture their practice for the personal value of the photography, but also potentially gain fan capital as their photos are displayed within the cosplay community. “ Being photographed and videoed, as long as it is not of the invasive variety, can thus provide cosers not only with tokens of private value  but fan capital that circulates within wider, largely online networks of exchange operating in the cosphere. Understanding the photograph as a token of ‘subcultural or fan capital’ or ‘hipness’ allows us to better scrutinize this economy of desire, and frame some of the polarizing issues that surround cosphotography.” (Mountfort, p.:47)

According to Lameriches, there are four crucial components which define cosplay, and these can be interpreted in a global sense. There is a source text or narrative, which the cosplayer will be referencing through their physical body and costume, then the costume or clothing itself, performance in front of an audience, and the cosplayer/subject. A fifth element can be added to this list, which is cosphotography. Photography is an integral part of cosplay, as it helps shape the practice and define its artistic meaning. The performance that is associated with cosplay is different to other types of performing arts, as it is much more fleeting and relies on its true essence being something that can be captured in the moment.

The different types of cosphotography range from formal and informal photography practices. Some of the most famous or most circulated photographs are simply taken inside the convention’s venue, or outside in a predetermined setting like a park or forest. Another setting for cosphotography are specific fashion shows dedicated to showcasing cosplayers and their elaborate costumes. Because of the purely visual nature of cosplay that includes the attention of spectators and photographers alike, there is a common occurrence of cosplayers, , who are subjugated to unwanted or unwelcomed gazes. “Conflated in the popular imagination with fetish and other kinky behaviors , cosplayers, especially female are also frequently objectified by the male gaze, reducing the multivalency of cosplay performance to a clutch of normative cliches about girls in sexy outfits.” (Mountfort, p.: 63)

This issue can arise from the notion that certain cosplayers are simply embracing and embodying a character who has already been sexualized within their source text, this means that cosplayer themselves aren’t attempting to subjugate themselves  to hypersexualization, rather that they are referencing their text in an accurate way. Certain genres, such as manga, anime, and comic books, include characters who are caricatured in a way, and this can also lead to hypersexualized interpretations by fans. Those who are not apart of the cosplay world may not understand the complexities of the source text that is being portrayed, or the act and process of referencing as being the defining feature of the fan practice. While many photographers are also apart of the cosphere and harbor intentions which are indicative to cultivating fan capital, it is important for cosplayers to know of other photographers who have the intention of exploitation. Like in any other public situation, cosplayers, males and females, deserve the same amount of respect, and the notion must be understood that no matter what the nature of someone’s costume is, they are not to be subjugated to inappropriate comments or sexualization.

References : Mountfort, P. Pierson, Smith, A. Geczy, A. (2018) Planet Cosplay Intellect Books. Chapter 2

The term cosplay derives from the portmanteau of the words  costume and  play, and it entails the act of dressing up as popular characters from comic books, movies, television series, video games, etc. Cosplay is a performative act, as those who engage in this activity go beyond just dressing up as their character of choice and also perform as them. It is said that there is a certain indebtedness to Japanese culture, such as manga and anime in terms of popular culture, though cosplay as we know it today sources its influences from both eastern and western culture. It was these cultural exchanges between the United States and Japan which allowed for the foundations of cosplay to be established in the 1970’s and 1980’s. With many more fandoms arising in the 21^st century, along with the globalizing current of information due to the age of the internet, the realm of cosplay has expanded and the complexities of this artform have been noted and studied. Specific conventions which were created to cultivate and magnify the qualities of cosplay have shown the true essence of what this fan practice really is. Cosplay can be interpreted as a form of modelling, textualization, translation, and most importantly, citation.

So, how exactly is cosplay analogous to citation? First of all, it is important to understand the metaphorical nature of this concept, as the traditional understanding of the term citation lies in textual referencing. Cosplay as a citation can be interpreted as a physical referencing, through the body of the cosplayer which is the medium, the text which is being cited is the costume and performative being of the body and costume together. Dressing up is an expression of self, as it is connected to showcasing the body in a way which connects to the self in a non physical way. This is something which can be practiced through fashion and personal style, while cosplay transcends beyond that as it is the embodiment of a certain character which isn’t necessarily synonymous to the self. “This embodiment includes not just costume but theatricalism, including pose and gesture. While there may be limitations to analogies between cosplay and citation, investigating the practice, on one level, as a system of reference between texts helps us differentiate it from other forms of dressing up and acting-out.” Mountfort, (2018) (p.:23)

Cosplay has an undeniable postmodern quality to it, as it is connected to the concept of the “death of the author”. The Death of the Author is a 1967 essay by French literary theorist  Roland Barthes. This concept refers to the idea that authors no longer have autonomy of their story or characters, and that interpretation and meaning can be assigned by the reader or audience. This is a postmodern understanding of literature, because classical texts allowed the author to posses sovereignty. In the realm of fan practices, meaning and interpretation have a more fluid understanding, as the components of the text can be manipulated according to personal affinity. A good example is the creative freedom associated with fanfiction, as the writer can take certain parts of the story, or characters and create their own story with their own meaning assigned to it. Cosplay acts in a similar way, as it is a citation that can be referenced in a way that suits the cosplayers preferences, imagination and creative autonomy.

References :

Mountfort 2018, Planet Cosplay (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books), Intro and Chapter 1

Mountfort 2018, Planet Cosplay (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books), Chapter 2

In what ways can cosphotography be understood as a form of ‘fan capital’?

Photography has played a significant role in contemporary cosplay as well as costuming in the 20th century. Over the decades, fan conventions have progressed the development of different styles of cosphotography, and photography and videos have not only been used as memorable pieces of media but also acts as shaping agents for how cosplay is performed (Mountfort et al., 2018).

As creating a cosplay requires a lot of skill and effort, cosplayers also hope to seek some form of capital in return. Photography and videos helped provide cosplayers with tokens of private value, as well as fan capital that has the opportunity to circulate to a wider, online community that engages in the cosplay community. However, as long as these photographs and videos are not invasive of the cosplayer’s privacy. In addition, the specific photographs that are taken are considered a token of ‘subcultural or fan capital’ or trendiness, which heightens the popularity of the cosplayer and cosphotography and can guarantee some fame.

Some issues also arise within cosphotography as there can be tensions between fan-directed and commercial cosplay-spheres. For example, the heterotopian and hegemonic control of certain cosplaying spaces, as well as supportive or exploitative audiences. There is a fair amount of discourse regarding vicious body-shaming and flaming of cosplayers in the community, and can create a negative space.

Furthermore, there are many online galleries dedicated to the visual discourse of cosphotography, as well as books, prints, ‘coscards’, and many newer forms of moving image media like cosplay music videos, indie documentaries, and even reality television programs. This helps expedite the emergence of cosplayer’s fan capital as their photographs can be accessed throughout many forms of media.

The concept of cosphotography is a rather newer phenomenon, however, photographing people who are engaged in costumed play of media characters has existed for many years. Dating back to older fan conventions in the 20th century, or even earlier when the public would dress up as outlandish characters. With these costuming acts, they were different from current cosplay as the outfits were crafted from imaginative projections of potential future fashion trends, instead of media references like today. Cosphotography along with costuming can be impressionable on the public, for example, Morojo’s futuristic costumes were a turning point for many costume trends and women costumers. This enabled her to appear in different sci-fi fanzines through the 1940’s and 50’s. In fact, early Worldcon costuming supported important models that the cosplay community would come to accept universally, with their costumes being presented in both formal and informal convention settings.