2/28/11 Cosplay In America : The Magazine

* UPDATE (7/1/11) : I lost funding so the project is on the backburner until I find someone to support it. :( Yup. Last second, they got cold feet. At least this gives me time to fine-tune it :)

I remember as a kid I found old copies of LIFE magazine from the 1950s at a used bookstore. Flipping through it, I could see what people wore and what was going on in the world at that time. To me that magazine was a time capsule of what was going on in that time. I can't live in 1950 but I can sure see it through LIFE magazine.

That is what I want this magazine to be all about. A time capsule.

People have asked why even start a magazine ? Why not do it online ? Magazines are dead. There's so many reasons not to do it. So why ? Simple. In 50 years, I know that the magazine will still be there. Maybe not publishing but it probably be sitting in the drawer of somebody's house. Someone could shake off the dust, flip through it and see what cosplay was like in the 2010s.

I can't guarantee that the online world will be there. Obviously, there will always be an internet but how do I know companies and magazines of today will still exist in 50 years ? Will someone be there to move the files over to a different server and maintain it for decades ? Will Yahoo still be here ? How about Facebook ? I dunno. 50 years is a long time. That is gonna be 2060.

What I do know is books and magazines will still be here and copies of this magazine will survive.

Now I had plans to do a magazine last year but I couldn't figure out how to swing the expenses of launching a magazine when I'm still in debt from the book publishing. I figured by 2013 or 2014 I should pay off the book and expense of traveling, shipping the books, just being out there at cons and by then, I might be too weary to even launch a magazine.

Enter an angel who believed in the book and the culture of cosplay.

My angel will advance the funds to pay printers for a sample magazine. A 52+ page 7.5 in x 10 in magazine that I can use to hopefully convince advertisers to put their ads in. My hope is that advertisers as well as revenue from selling the magazine will finance the next issue and the next issue and so forth.

Here's what I plan for the magazine :

+ Interviews - Interviews with well-known cosplayers as well as those who have just a few years experience to those who just began. We can learn from everyone so I like to cover the gambit. Interviews with photographers as well as film makers. By the way, even though it is called "Cosplay in America", there'll be sections for foreign cosplayers too.

+ City Guide - A guide to a different city in each issue about where to go find fabrics, resources as well as anime shops. No Barnes and Noble or Borders here - I'm looking for mom & pop, independently run stores cuz you gotta support your local business. Sort of a Yellow Pages for that town.

+ Tutorials and Make-Up Guides - Pages and pages of instructional help

+ Con Scene photos - this is the section we print photos from Y'ALL ! Yes, photos of different cons from around the country. Anyone can submit. If you have photos posted on Flickr, Facebook, photobucket, etc, just send a link and if there's something I like to use, I will contact you to get your permission.

+ Cosplay photos stories. What I mean by photo stories is like how fashion magazines have a photo story or fashion spread - usually runs like 5-10 pages maybe more. Well, I like to find some photographers out there and ask them to shoot their own story.

The sample issue or "Issue Zero" as I like to call it will be a smaller version (smaller meaning less pages, not smaller size) of what I like to have and I hope to have it out in time for the summer con season this year so y'all can pick up copies this year. The cost should be between $5 and $10.

Issue One is targeted for Spring of 2012 and will be double or even triple the page count closer to 150 pages and retail for $15. Issue Two will be release in the Fall of 2012 and so forth.

Issues will be available at cons and online and hopefully in a few years, be available at places outside of cons. You know I will be traveling all year in support of my book so just find me, and you will find copies. My goal is to try to get it out before ACEN in May.

Reason why it is only twice a year is because, seriously, I want this to be fun and not turn out to be a job for me. If I even attempt a monthly or quarterly, I will burn myself out. Seriously. I need your help.

I need advice, suggestions, and ideas as well as writers, photographers, and so forth. I'm really just one guy so I need all of y'all to help me out on this one. I want this to be your magazine. Your words, your photos, everything from the cosplay community. If you want to help me out, please, email me at cosplayinamerica@gmail.com. and tell me what you can do or what suggestions you have.

Now, I have no idea how this will even turn out. This whole idea could crash and burn for all I know but I do know one thing. My gut tells me this is the right time to do it, I am gonna do despite any haters or negative folks out there, and if I fail, it'll be a spectacular failure and I'll have a great story to tell my grand kids.

Think about it. In 50 years, I know some of y'all out there reading these words right now will have copies of this magazine or even my book tucked away in your desk. You may be 90 years old or 70 years old but you pull out that old faded copy of Cosplay in America and be able to remember what cosplay was like in the 2010s. You can show your grand kids what you used to do. Flip through the magazine to the convention photos, look at the smiling cosplayers and remember how grand it was back then. Cosplay will continue to change but your time - the time right now - right as you are reading this - it won't exist in 2060.

That, my friend is why am doing this magazine and book.

I want to build a time capsule.

2/12/11 Quorra Cosplay Photo Shoot

Meet Annissë, a Quorra cosplayer. Back in December 2010, I stumbled across her photo randomly online and posted on my Facebook wall. I guessed she must be from the Midwest or the South but I was far off. In fact, she lives here in Los Angeles. Within a few hours of posting her photo, she posted a comment. One thing lead to another, a photo shoot was proposed - then I had to leave for Texas for Christmas, then her suit's electrical system needed to be repaired and finally the first week of Feb we managed to meet up.

Video and more photos + explantations after the jump

2/9/11 INTERVIEW : Judith Stephens

So Judith, I've seen you in San Francisco and in New York and when I first heard about you was because you did a photo book called "Cosplayers 2008" and "Cosplayers 2009" but I like to start from the beginning and ask how you got involved into photography and into photographing cosplayers and basically introduce yourself to my readers. And will there be "Cosplayers 2010" ?

I grew up with my grandfather and father as photographer-hobbyists. In high school, I started taking photography classes at a local art college, and just fell in love with the whole process, from taking the photo to the darkroom. I got accepted to Parsons in New York, and finished my BFA in photography in 2007.

I'm moving the upcoming Cosplay Event listing over to this page. My listing is just a list of cosplay events (outside of cons) that I found online. These events are meetups, ice skating, picnics, photo shoots, etc. If you know of any events, please send me a link -> cosplayinamerica{at}gmail or post the link on my Facebook page.

Meanwhile, I'll still use the "Cosplay Event" tag for events that I'll be at personally with my set-up.