This looks better irl

Exploring cosplay cons

This looks better irl – Exploring Cosplay Cons follows young people in this contemporary subculture, largely influenced by various Asian media and pop culture, full of community spirit, individuality and personal challenges, as they prepare for and attend cosplay conventions in Western Europe.

My work explores people who engage with traditions and social conventions yet are driven by individuality and personal desires. For years, my camera has been centered on China, but I am now investigating the influence of Asian culture on Western society—specifically through cosplay, a form of performance art where participants use costumes and accessories to portray characters from comics, pop culture, anime, manga, video games, and films.

Over the past few years, I have attended various cosplay conventions and met many cosplayers. Their self-made costumes range from endearingly amateur to lifelike, each offering a personal interpretation of the characters they portray.

The cosplay community is highly diverse, with a strong sense of mutual acceptance, which includes a large proportion of neurodivergent individuals. Could there be an overlap with the social and emotional challenges that many young people face today? Are there deeper emotions hidden beneath these costumes? To explore this, I collected hundreds of screenshots from cosplayers’ social media accounts. These screenshots serve as a recurring element in the publication, offering insight into their underlying feelings.

Blending references to manga and smartphones, the book reflects the vibrant and slightly rebellious spirit of this youth culture. Beyond the impressive costumes, it reveals the cosplayers’ journey of self-discovery and the vulnerabilities they share online, capturing a unique snapshot of a generation navigating both real and virtual worlds.

The book will be published in November 2024