There is something important within cosplay/photography the community I'd like to address.

Just casually reading posts on various social media sites, there has always been this trend of passively aggressively attacking photographers, usually anonymously. These attacks, however, are generally only directed at a very select few, yet it is a practice that is carried on by both photographers and cosplayers alike - virtually EVERYONE at that, not even a select few.

There is this complaint that "certain" photographers only work with "certain" cosplayers. There is this complaint of favoritism. There is this mentality that this is for some reason something that should be looked down upon, something that should be frowned upon, something that should be shunned within the community.

Now I ask you this: do you have close friends? Should you be attacked for hanging out with those close friends? What if you got a hotel together at a con? What about going out and grabbing food or drinks together? Would anyone really think twice about it? Then why does it all of a sudden become an issue when a friend takes a photo of another friend?

Let's put this into another perspective. As far as I know, this attack has never really been directed at me personally. But why is that? I have that exact same bias of routinely working with the same few cosplayers over and over again. I do this because we're good friends outside of cosplay too, and some of us also work on projects too besides photography. It is only natural that since we spend so much time together otherwise, that the camera comes out too for some shoots.

But why then, when both myself and the people I work with routinely, we don't get this same level of attack? It is as simple as this. I'm not viewed in that "celebrity" photographer category, and the people I work with the most are not viewed in that "celebrity" cosplayer category.

And yet, our frequency of working together is often times much MUCH higher than these so called "celebrity" photographers and "celebrity" cosplayers.

So, let me ask you this: why is it a problem for them to do these actions, and yet for someone such as myself, it isn't an issue?

This, my friends, is the absolute definition of objectification.

Once someone reaches that so called "celebrity" status, they're no longer treated like people. They're treated like tools, like objects. Things that have no personalities or emotions.

These photographers are being treated like tools. Like things that should simply be used. They're not being treated like humans anymore, they're simply being treated like objects.

Rather than treating these photographers like enemies, think of them more as mentors. They've acquired that "celebrity" social status, not by accident, but by working hard at their craft.