So I created a new website just for cosplayers and cosplay photographers. I am CPR0 , founder and creator of CosplayRegistry.com. For the past decade I’ve been the co-founder and lead photographer for Girls of the Con. We’ve striven to create equality and acceptance in the cosplay community since 2007. Over the past eleven years we’ve covered hundreds of conventions, photographed 100k+ cosplayers, published seven yearly cosplay calendars, and seen our work published in the likes of Marie Claire UK, the book “Cosplay World”, and in the illustrious pages of Cosplayzine magazine for their October 2017 issue.
During my ten plus years photographing conventions and cosplayers I’ve come to a realization. There has never been a truly effective way to identify who’s who as you work your way through the convention crowd capturing all the talented people who’ve worked so hard on their creations. Often times photographers take Cosplayer business cards throughout the con and they’ll get jammed into backpacks or shoved into pockets or wallets. Many of them never even make it out of the hotel once the convention is over. But what’s the one thing that stays in their possession the entire time? Their camera. Their phone. Their images. Never leaves their hand really.
I wanted to create a form of ID that could be worn like any other convention badge. A simple easily recognized image. It had to be reusable. Nothing to take, nothing to give, only a single photograph of it needed to find a cosplayer and their entire online presence in one image. More visible at a distance than websites, social media names, QR codes, etc. Something a cell phone could capture in detail from six feet away. Something easy to make at home. Something cheaper than business cards. You can print a 4×6 photo of your ID at Walgreens for $0.33, stick it in a $2 badge holder and use it at every convention you attend. Simple. Affordable. Easy.
Cosplayers don’t spend weeks building costumes, hundreds of dollars in travel and hotel expenses, and hours walking around the show floor to not be photographed. So why put forth that much effort with no effective way of being tagged in the photos taken of you? The Cosplay Registry puts the power to grow your social media in your hands. Create your registry profile. Print (or purchase) your unique CPR badge and make holding it out the first photo you pose for. More affordable than coffee. More useful than a free hugs. And beneficial to all Cosplayers who choose to display one.