Where Do All the Photos Go?

from Art Department Weekly | Issue 93 Vol. 9

Wrapped Up in Fandom

WHERE DOES IT ALL GO?

There is a lot to record at New York Comic Con—exclusive content, memorable interactions, and jaw-dropping costumes. But part of me was fascinated by all the different equipment photographers were using. I’ve had people stop me to ask me what I’m shooting with, but we don’t talk about where it’s going.

Obviously, Reed Pop needs material to recap and promote. Other vendors are live streaming. Everyone has some sort of vlog. But it’s funny to see the range of accessories—fl ashes and lights attached to still cameras and harnesses for video—when at this point there were plenty of phones that could take really high quality photos.

I brought a separate microphone in case my kids wanted to do interviews with strangers. We were also advocating for middle school space at the same time, though, so I wanted content that might be more viral than my usual Tweets at the mayor. My thing was we’re looking for a hero but maybe the mayor could tell his Department of Education that we need space. I had Boom sit down and talk about how Amadeus Cho is one of the eight smartest people in the whole world, but he’s a minority so he’s stuck in New York City public schools—a system that doesn’t seem to be encouraging all kids to achieve more. (Boom wasn’t really into it, but the edit I landed on is us laughing that he couldn’t say “New York.”) Kal posed with the “Equality” bag we’d picked up at a rally where parents demonstrated how much they want space for charter schools. Luis had at least four cosplayers say, “Hey, Bill, be a hero,” and then I Tweeted them at the mayor. My favorite might have been my video of a Michael Myers cosplayer sitting on the fl oor with a Chucky doll to say “We think a lack of proposals for #spacetolearn is even scarier.” —MV

Passing Through

The underpass at the Javits Center has been the place for pop-up photo studios for as long as I’ve been attending NYCC. I’ve been telling myself for years that I couldn’t do that because I don’t have a battery pack and I don’t want to compete for space and what if no one wants to pose for me... Seeing how easily Luis came through and photographed cosplayers getting ready to take pictures, I wonder why I’ve built it up to be so difficult and competitive in my head. —MV