Better Homes and Costumes

November 1, 2013 8:42 AM

Just the Two of Us : Portraits of Cosplayers at Home (via Colossal)
posted by gwint (36 comments total)

Those are amazing.

Something about that hyper-saturated style of photography makes every house look slightly garish, which I can't decide if I like or not.
posted by xingcat at 8:55 AM on November 1, 2013

Thank you—I particularly enjoyed this one.
posted by misteraitch at 8:55 AM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

Great photos! I had a problem with the images showing up in a box with vertical and horizontal scrollbars, so I just started viewing them in a separate window, changing the image number (just-xx.jpg) to go from one to the next:

http://www.kpic.at/images/stories/projekte/just.the.two.of.us/just-01.jpg

to

http://www.kpic.at/images/stories/projekte/just.the.two.of.us/just-34.jpg

in case anyone else has the same trouble.
posted by taz at 8:58 AM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?

Or... is the couch too big?
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:59 AM on November 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

These were great!
posted by Kitteh at 9:02 AM on November 1, 2013

It seems like all of these cosplayers coincidentally went on cleaning sprees juuust before their photo shoots...
posted by snorkmaiden at 9:05 AM on November 1, 2013 [7 favorites]

Yeah, I find a lot of those houses not just clean, but empty, like they were staged. Maybe it's supposed to create a sense that these people are on stage or on display in their homes, but it was kind of weird and unreal seeming to me.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:21 AM on November 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

These were much more interesting than I expected. Thank you for posting this.
I don't know much about this practice, but it's certainly interesting to think about the choice of costume vis a vis the setting.
The costumes are also just so elaborate. I can't imagine the amount of time they spend on each of them. Mostly I'm impressed, but I'm also shocked that anyone has the free time for a hobby like this. Then I'm impressed again that the subjects have found something they enjoy so much they are willing to devote the time. Good for them.
posted by staccato signals of constant information at 9:25 AM on November 1, 2013

Yeah, I find a lot of those houses not just clean, but empty, like they were staged.

I got the same vibe, except for this one, which looks more like what I expected.
posted by Panjandrum at 9:27 AM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

One of my favorite memories of a former roommate is when we were lying around at home after some big Thing, both of us with faces covered in elaborate make-up, she in her pajamas and me in a ratty green terry-cloth bathrobe. She took one look at me and burst out laughing.

"The Goths at home!" she said.

Good times.
posted by kyrademon at 9:37 AM on November 1, 2013 [5 favorites]

Not just cosplay, but time travel to the early 1980s!
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:54 AM on November 1, 2013

Yeah, I find a lot of those houses not just clean, but empty, like they were staged. Maybe it's supposed to create a sense that these people are on stage or on display in their homes, but it was kind of weird and unreal seeming to me.

Adding a thought to my previous thoughts: I don't think that's a problem given that these are clearly "art" and not "photojournalism." I imagine feeling slightly unsettled and weirded out is part of the expected reaction.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:03 AM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

My house, well apartment, is clean and empty like that all the time. I don't know how most people can live in the cluttered warrens they apparently inhabit. It gives me the claustro.
posted by dame at 10:11 AM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

Panjandrum: "Yeah, I find a lot of those houses not just clean, but empty, like they were staged.

I got the same vibe, except for this one, which looks more like what I expected."

A-and that one looks like an outtake from The Silence of the Lambs...
posted by chavenet at 10:11 AM on November 1, 2013

Yeah, I find a lot of those houses not just clean, but empty, like they were staged. Maybe it's supposed to create a sense that these people are on stage or on display in their homes, but it was kind of weird and unreal seeming to me.

All is cosplay.
posted by naju at 10:20 AM on November 1, 2013

Houzplay?
posted by blue_beetle at 10:37 AM on November 1, 2013

Well, I guess I know what I'll be having nightmares about tonight.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:43 AM on November 1, 2013

Some of those look dangerously furry
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:50 AM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

If I had the energy and focus to have costumes so kick ass, I would also have the energy and focus to have a clean house. I did expect to see more sewing machines.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:50 AM on November 1, 2013

The basic impulse is broader than the subcultural signifiers implied by "cosplay". You just know that there are guys in Civil War uniforms basically doing the same thing, they just don't call it that. Also in high school you'd get kids who are enrolled in things like the CAP cadet program who'd show up for school in their uniforms and basically pose in them all day.
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:57 AM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

Some of those look dangerously furry

Yeah, that was my impression as well. Some of these... I... I don't think they're cosplayers. I think they are... (gasp) furries.
posted by Justinian at 10:59 AM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

That Anubis gas mask - is that from something, or is it all it's own? Because if it isn't, that thing is absolutely badass, if it is, it's still cool, but not knowing where its from makes it a great deal more interesting on its own.

A google search only turned up this.
posted by chambers at 11:01 AM on November 1, 2013

Hauzplay?

my Steve Rogers obsession happened during a huge decoration and now the apartment is curiously 40s themed.

L.A Noire was a great source of interior decor tips .
posted by The Whelk at 11:09 AM on November 1, 2013

Probably from homes in Vienna, Austria.
posted by stbalbach at 11:34 AM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

I would frame this one.

Googly eyes are the best.
posted by maryr at 11:55 AM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

> I got the same vibe, except for this one, which looks more like what I expected.

Agreed. I kinda wished there were more portraits of what I think of as more typical cosplayers, more amateur, not such elaborate full-face masks and such.
posted by desuetude at 12:50 PM on November 1, 2013

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that many of the places had chandeliers and ornate furniture--sort of my mother-in-law middle class--but I did feel like some of them were jarring in the contradiction between the costume and the setting. Except for the rabbit on the hideous green carpet. That was pretty much what I expected of someone in a rabbit costume. Sure glad the furniture wasn't orange....

Some of these would scare the crap outta me if I met them in the dark.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:15 PM on November 1, 2013

Probably from homes in Vienna, Austria.

Yes. The ornate fixtures and intense cleanliness seemed a bit weird until I noticed the language and figured these were from Germany or somesuch place.
posted by jiawen at 2:24 PM on November 1, 2013

That's some really cool stuff. And to add to the derail, I thought that furdom didn't appreciate being lumped in with the cosplayers?
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 3:46 PM on November 1, 2013

So much shag carpet! I am entranced by the notion that interior decorating no-nos are so wildly variable. Like in South Korea, giant ornate carved wood furniture is used as a signifier for wealthy households in all the K-dramas and I can't even pay attention to the plot because I'm so distracted by the ugliness of the furniture.
posted by spamandkimchi at 4:02 PM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

I know people with super-clean houses. And I know dedicated costumers. In all of my lived experience, there has been zero crossover between those two groups. All I can think is that they took a long break from costuming to ready space for the shoot, or have partners/friends/family who did it for them, or have really large houses where a few rooms are untouched.

Anyway, the unicorn in the bathtub wins the day.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:59 PM on November 1, 2013 [2 favorites]

After 3 or 4 pictures, I just assumed this was an art shoot, with whatever staging made sense for the shot. I don't really care though; I think the collection is brilliant. Thanks for posting.
posted by Brak at 5:04 PM on November 1, 2013

I kind of want to know what the jigsaw puzzle depicts.
posted by arcticseal at 5:23 PM on November 1, 2013

They forgot to include this one.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:35 PM on November 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

These are great photos, thanks for sharing! I think this one is my favourite. I have no idea who these women are or what they are doing but it is a fabulous image.

I love the way in some of the pictures, the oddness of the costume is enhanced by the normality of the surroundings (for a given value of normality), whereas in others you can tell the oddness of the costume is just heightened by the crazy stuff in their surroundings.
posted by Athanassiel at 10:33 PM on November 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

This NYT slideshow has a little info about the participants, making it clear that many of them are indeed furries--though not always the ones you'd think--as well as LARPers, Carnival celebrants, etc, rather than cosplayers in the traditional sense.

Athanassiel and chambers, you'll find answers about those four women and Anubis, if you want them.

Re: the "clean and empty" effect--I think a good deal of that is actually the lighting. Some of the rooms really are surprisingly pristine, but in others you can see a normal-ish amount of stuff under a coffee table or by the bedside; they're just lit to draw the attention up and away from that. Others, like the one of the guy ironing, are set up so you're only looking at a small area that's lit and composed to seem larger.
posted by hippugeek at 6:17 AM on November 6, 2013