We at arkadymac.com hope to show the vibrant and dynamic community that has emerged from cosplaying here in the Philippines, which is why with our new segment, Cosplay Community, we will be featuring the cosplayers, photographers, craftsmen, organizers, and other people and groups that have, in their own way, kept cosplay alive and well throughout the years. The community itself is far from perfect or organized, but we want to show everyone how dynamic and energetic it has become. It is our hope that someday, more people will be more understanding and more appreciative of this hobby, this art, this passion for cosplay.
For our first few features on the Cosplay Community, we want to present great cosplayer-photographer collaborations. In the community, there has long been a special and symbiotic relationship between the people in front and behind the camera. Both are essential to bringing a character being portrayed to life, and their efforts are nothing short of works of art. For our initial offering, we present Katherine Louize as Aoki Lapis, photography by Keru Beru.
As an anime, manga and game enthusiast, Katherine Louize has had a lot of inspiration for her cosplays. She says she particularly loves tsundere and yandere characters though. Starting out in 2010, Kat says cosplay changed everything about her. “Even my biggest weakness turned into strength,” she shares. “I wasn’t good at expressing myself, but now I can show everyone what I can do.” It was never easy and she found it challenging. “Before, I lacked confidence. I doubted myself on whether I can do things. Cosplay has changed my personality and outlook on life,” she says. “Being positive in all ways and pushing things beyond limits are things we should share.” Kat has since been happy to discover that she had become a positive force to the people around her. “People around me are telling that they got inspired by my work that they tried cosplay and photography too,” she tells us.
She fondly remembers her collaboration with photographer Keru Beru in her Aoki Lapis cosplay. It is a fruitful project, as the photo above, Shine Bright Like a Diamond, got featured on the Cosplay Gen website, Best on DA: volume 35. Here she cosplays Aoki Lapis, a Japanese Vocaloid. She is portrayed as a fairy who has no memory of who she is. She belongs to a race of fairies capable of transforming the music into power and her voice is said to have the power to give life when she sings. “When Aoki Lapis had her exposure and released her first song, I ended up hearing all of her songs,” she admits. “She’s cute and jolly but a little stubborn like me. I like her upbringing, her voice and how she projects herself. Vocaloids are wonderful because they evolve and they keep growing like their cosplays do.
Many thanks to Kat and Keru Beru for allowing us to share their work. See more of them at Nice(1) Photography. Thank you for dropping by, and do visit us again for more cosplay features here at arkadymac.com.
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