Last week, I talked a little about the very busy week in Indianapolis running the Distant Era workshops at Gen Con. This week, I’m excited to present the featured portraits from the first (of three!) Distant Era Fine Art Costumed Photography and Posing Workshop at Gen Con.
Workshop Goals
I designed the costumed photography posing workshop to teach posing fundamentals to cosplayers and to provide a studio portrait session where the participants can practice those techniques with a photographer while observing the images live as we photograph them. The workshop is part physical-mechanical in that it breaks down how our bodies and wardrobe make shapes and interact with the camera. It’s also partly an acting workshop. The end goal is to provide each participant with an artistic portrait featuring their cosplay.
It’s easy for me to get a bit in my head before the workshop because there are so many moving parts, so many things that have to work flawlessly, from inventorying and packing the studio equipment to transporting it to the site to setting it up to dialing in the settings to making sure the workshop information is well organized and presented. As with explaining board game rules, I want to cover the information quickly and succinctly so that we can dive in and start trying things. I’m always bracing for one or more elements to fall through. But any anxiety disperses the moment I meet the first participant and start learning about their cosplay.
If I’ve learned anything from photographing cosplay from the Gen Con workshops, it’s how varied the designs can be. I love listening to the participants talk about the costumes they’ve created or assembled and into which they’ve poured their time and passion.
The Cosplays
The first cosplay in workshop one was Technoblade. Technoblade was a YouTuber with (currently) 16.5 million subscribers. That’s approximately 16.5 million more than Distant Era. Technoblade’s icon was an illustrated pig wearing a king’s robe and jeweled crown and holding a sword. Technoblade (in real life) passed away from cancer at the age of twenty-three in June 2022. Our first subject made a Technoblade cosplay in tribute.
So this is what I mean about what you learn and how fascinating it is to hear these stories. Some cosplays interpret or replicate costumes from popular media franchises, film, comics, or literature. In this workshop, we had Okaara Patty as Marvel Comics’ Misty Knight, dressed just like her character in the comics.
Some subjects prefer to portray broader character archetypes. For instance, last year we had a couple of elves; Elizabeth sometimes plays a copper dragon. In this workshop we had an awesome ninja.
Others are new inventions or interpretations created by costume crafters. In this year’s workshop, we had a dress that represented the Nautilus submarine from Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In the portrait below, note the rivets and viewing port (which lights up). Orchid Nightblossom Cosplay made this costume! Check out her other work on Instagram.
On the nautical theme, we also had a mermaid cosplay worn by a subject who works as an actual professional mermaid! It’s always a joy to hear what people have made or brought and to help realize that vision into a portrait.
The Photographer
In workshop one, we were also joined by a photographer who wanted to observe the process of working with different models so he could improve his own process. I greatly enjoyed shifting the dialogue to discuss why I was making the choices I made. Many of those details weren’t relevant to the posing but were key to the process of running a session. For example, I might ask a subject to move or pose differently depending my choice of lens or light. I enjoyed explaining my choices on either side of the camera.
The MVP
As usual, Elizabeth provided invaluable assistance to these workshops, while wearing her own costumes every day. Every morning as we set up the studio in one of the meeting rooms, Elizabeth helped me test the lights. This is what her costume looked like on day one/workshop one. She’s long loved Disney’s Treasure Planet and the character of Captain Amelia, voiced by Emma Thompson. Based on the amount of feedback and praise she’s received on the convention floor at Origins and Gen Con, it seems that others do too.
Camaraderie and Gratitude
I’m grateful to the participants of Distant Era’s first 2023 workshop at Gen Con for their brilliant work, their stories, and their camaraderie. It was wonderful to watch them cheer one another on, offer suggestions, and support one another as they took turns in front of the camera.
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