
Cosplay (short for costume play) is when people dress up as their favorite comic book, video game or TV and movie characters. This pastime can be traced back to the Japanese genres of Anime and Manga. In 1984, Nobuyuki Takahashi (the founder of Studio Hard) coined the phrase when attending the 42nd Worldcon in Los Angeles. Cosplay is hugely popular among all ages and genders making it an inclusive and passionate community.
Today, I’m at Secret Con, which was established in the summer of 2021 with the first event taking place in October of that year. An event run by members of the cosplay community, for the cosplay community, held within unique locations such as the former HMP Gloucester. I’m going to be shooting with my Fujifilm X-T3 and a single Godox AD200 off-camera flash to demonstrate how you can make the most of your trip to any cosplay event.