MEDIA COVERAGE
Image Source:
Article By: Gwendolyn Ng
​
Being a veteran cosplayer, Ms Alice Goh understands the difficulties of her hobby in tropical Singapore.
​
After putting on elaborate make- up, wigs and costumes, most cosplayers – understandably – want to immortalise their looks in photographs – and often in evocative outdoor settings. But the problem is surviving the heat.
​
“We used to go to places such as the Chinese Garden for our shoots and it got really hot wearing our costumes under the sun,” says the 31-year-old, who loves dressing up as student idol singer Minami Kotori from high school anime Love Live!
​
So she quit her job as a project manager in IT and, together with some other investors, pooled together a five-figure sum to set up an air-conditioned studio. LunarWorks Studio opened two months ago and is dedicated to cosplayers.
​
Located in an industrial building in Woodlands Close, the 1,090 sq ft studio features five themed backdrops, including a Japanese tatami room with paper umbrellas and a regal, Western-themed room with a Victorian sofa as its centrepiece.
​
It costs $30 a person to rent the studio for a three-hour slot on weekends and $25 on weekdays.
​
Customers, who usually take their own photos, can make use of all five settings. If the cosplayer wants a professional photographer, the studio will provide one at an additional cost.
​
Ms Goh is not the only entrepreneurial J-culture enthusiast. One floor above her studio is the one- year-old Luminos, another photography studio that also sees a fair number of cosplayers making use of the facilities. The commercial studio is also open to non-cosplayers.
​
It was started by cosplay photographer Kwong Wai Keat, 26, to provide a “safe space for people to practise their creativity”.
​
He has photographed cosplayers for five years and has travelled with them to far-flung, deserted places to get good shots.
​
He says: “Most locations are hard to get to, such as lallang fields in Tuas. A lot of cosplayers are young and such places are not safe for them.”
​
An anime fan, he is currently majoring in graphic communications at Lasalle College of the Arts, and runs Luminos in his free time.
He put in $6,500, funded by his freelance photography jobs, to set up the business.
​
His studio backdrops are based on popular anime series. Currently, it includes a pool based on popular game and anime Kantai Collection and one with a futuristic theme inspired by the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.
​
The studio costs $30 to $40 an hour on all days. Cosplayers usually bring their own photographers, but Mr Kwong can also provide photography services if needed.
​
Both Luminos and LunarWorks Studio are building sets for photo booths at events such as the ongoing Anime Festival Asia Singapore.
​
Ms Goh says her studio is a way of giving back to the cosplay community by providing a comfortable and conducive environment for photos. “The best reward is when they give the studio good reviews.”
​
Article Source :
http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/studios-set-the-scene-for-cosplay