Cos We Play - Cosplayers of South Afica

A year ago, it would have been unheard of. For some, it came through eyes glued to the television, others from cramped hands over the keyboard. It’s born out of the urge to identify with characters that don’t exist in real life. But hey, who cares about real life? They call it Cosplay. If it takes a cape or a suit of armor to swagger, then so be it. It is an idea born in Japan, but took off in America at comic book conventions. In Malaysia, at a recent conference, the queues stretched for miles as fans waited to get into a convention. In Africa, it’s growing in the south. The South African gaming characters rarely fail to turn heads. The only problem is getting hold of your own wigs and colored contact lenses in the post. Unsurprisingly, because of this they make their outfits instead – at least their armor gives better protection than postal tracking codes. Cosplayers form a more surreal part of South Africa’s gaming industry that’s worth around $200 million (R2.4 billion), according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC). It’s going to keep growing; by 2018 it is expected to reach around $300 million (R3.7 billion). This is the African story of the growing trend of Cosplay, from Johannesburg to Cape Town. The defining factor is celebrating the love of your favorite character – they say imitation is the sincerest and sweetest form of flattery. The Project I will proudly admit that I am an Anime and game lover. So when you get the opportunity to feature something in a magazine that you love, you put in that extra effort. Trust me when I say their outfits are no joke. Every piece of armor is painstaking made from scratch. So it made complete sense to do the photo shoot in their home, where it all takes place. I aim to document the lives of South African Cosplayers. Their hopes and dreams in a growing geek culture/fandom industry and a lighter side of South African culture, that ignores the politics and the violence so often seen in our society.