Austrian photographer Klaus Pichler, known for a book of prison tattoos, Inked for Life, among other works, has created a wonderful series of portraits featuring cosplayers in full costume, hanging around at home.
Who hasn’t had the desire just to be someone else for a while? Dressing up is a way of creating an alter ego and a second skin which one’s behavior can be adjusted to. Regardless of the motivating factors which cause somebody to acquire a costume, the main principle remains the same: the civilian steps behind the mask and turns into somebody else.
For this photo series I visited owners of elaborate costumes in their own homes. As a matter of fact, ‘Just the two of us’ deals with both: the costumes and the people behind them.
Some are charming and poignant.
Some are striking feats of design.
And many run the gamut from admirably witty to just flat out hilarious.
Also, it must be noted: the attention to staging in these is incredible, is it not? Either that, or a lot of costume enthusiasts just happen to have crazy nice houses.
The series, along with a great deal of Pichler’s other fine work, can be viewed at his web site. And you really should have a look at them there, they absolutely benefit from being seen at a larger size than we can show them here.
Via Metafilter
