Cosplay’s Photo Performance
There are a few themes and topics about cosplay and my cosplay research that have cropped up a few times already on the blog: the connections between cosplay and storytelling, cosplay’s performance, cosplay’s subversive quality. But I wanted to talk about one of them again - I want to talk about cosplay’s performance but a specific type of performance. I find the way cosplay performs in photographs fascinating, and a different way to compare and contrast to the way cosplay performs in front of people, either at conventions or on stage at masquerades. So let’s talk about it a little: what it means to have photographic performance.
Most of the time, photographic performance actually happens at events like conventions. Fans will see their favourite characters and ask for a photo of the cosplayer. Cosplayers will typically suddenly adjust - dropping bags of personal belongings, adjusting any props to be within frame, and striking a pose that’s reminiscent of their character. When at a con, I noticed how different poses could be between characters. A cosplayer who was emulating anime character Violet Evergarden - a character struggling with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder - simply stared blank-eyed at the camera, body stiff and holding a bag. Their pose was very reminiscent of the blank, empty of emotion look the character would often have in the show. In comparison, a cosplayer from the video game Bloodborne, wearing a large black overcoat and wielding a giant weapon, posed as if getting ready to swing their weapon at the camera - which also happened to show off the fake blood splatters on their coat.
Because the cosplayers initial inspiration point is from an existing piece of popular culture, their poses and experiences in front of the camera are always referential to the original piece or character. Even when cosplayers change the character in some way to fit their own conceptions, the poses help to point the viewer toward the original character conception. When posing as a female version of the urban fantasy book character Harry Dresden, a cosplayer still posed similarly to the front cover of the books despite the shift in gender, for example. Like aspects of the costume the players pick up on as quintessentially that character, the poses and ways of styling a photograph also have to be quintessentially that character. It’s what cues the viewer into knowing what they cosplayer is referencing. Everything else about the character can change, but these small subtle cues allows the viewer to know exactly what they’re looking at.
As the famous phrase “a picture says a thousand words” indicates, photography is a form of storytelling. We can hear a full story in a photo. According to folklorist Jay Mechling, photography, particularly non-professional photography, can be understood as a type of folk performance. This seems fairly on point. Looking back at old photographs, we can see how cultural understandings of photography has shifted over the years - for example the different ways people would pose for photographs or even the growth of the unposed picture. Mechling, though, also sees an individual photograph as more than just the moment in time that it was taken. In a study on hunting photos, Mechling demonstrated how various aspects of the social world the hunters live in are reflected in the photos they take with their prey - it showed the dynamics between various genders, and how they each approach hunting itself a bit differently, and particularly the relationship triad between human, dog and prey.
Similarly, Richard Chalfen discussed how photographs function as a form of visual communication and a mark of social activity. He’s commented on how photography, particularly family photographs, are almost like statements, rather than simply pictures. They communicate so much, and can function as both a report of what was happening as well as an interpretative understanding.
Cosplayers use photographs to tell their story, whether they are posing quickly at a con or spending time setting up shots with a professional photographer. A cosplay photograph must not only communicate the costume itself, but also the multiple stories which lie behind the costume - the narrative of the original piece of popular culture and the narrative of the cosplayer’s own interpretation of that character. One of my favourite gender-shifted cosplays is one by Ely Renae, who did a feminine version of Ganondorf. Despite the fact that the character has shifted genders, and in the feminised portrayal also shifted the costume. Despite the alterations to the costume, hair and makeup, the character of Ganondorf still comes through. How that happens through costume can be reserved for another blog post, but for this one, we can see how the combination of Ely Renae’s posing and the photographer, Emily Smith, conveys the power inherent in Ganondorf, an important aspect of his character. I can recognise it as Ganondorf immediately upon seeing the image. But it’s not just the original Ganondorf I see. I also see Ely’s interpretation of Ganondorf simultaneously. In one image, the cosplayer is able to portray the original character and their interpretation, including the specific contexts of both.
Cosplay is so fascinating because of how intricate the storytelling is, and exactly how individuals put together the stories they’re telling. They have to build it into their costume, yes, but they also portray them in the way they hold their body, or the way they look at the camera. They tell the story with their whole body - and that’s pretty amazing.
