I had the privilege of interviewing Elena Dorfman, a renowned fine art photographer based in Los Angeles. Elena is best known for Still Lovers (2005), a photographic series that examines the intimate and domestic lives of men and women who live with life-size silicone sex dolls (Hollywood also couldn’t help but explore this world with Lars and the Real Girl).

My conversation with Elena was not about the absurdity of people who choose to live with inanimate dolls as their partners or family members, though I couldn’t help but ask her about it. I spoke to Elena about her more recent work, Fandomania: Characters and Cosplay (2007), which explores the identities of cosplayers through portraiture. Cosplay is a conjunction of the phrase “costume play”, and refers to the practice of dressing up as fictional characters from video games, anime, manga and so forth.

I was intrigued by Elena’s striking images of cosplayers, each of whom were presented in evocative poses against a stark black background. The vibrant contrast and isolation of these real life incarnations of fantasy characters was initially jolting, but I couldn’t help but be drawn in by the body language and facial expressions of these individuals. Click here to visit the online gallery on Elena’s website. What’s most interesting about Elena’s approach is that it’s a complete departure from how cosplayers tend to photograph themselves. Just take a glance through the “Anime Cosplay” group pool on Flickr, and you’ll know what I mean.

I recorded my phone interview with Elena and cut together some audio compositions that explore Elena’s artistic intention behind Fandomania and her insights into the fascinating world of cosplay and anime fan conventions.

Interview clip #1
(Music credit: “Butterfly” by Strange Republik)

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Interview clip #2
(Music credit: “1978 (June 8)” by Allah Universal)

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Interview clip #3
(Music credit: “Dust” by Strange Republik)

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Interview clip #4
(Music credit: “Switch 1″ by Serphonic)

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