(Anime Expo 2002 / photo : Kevin Lillard / source )
When I first started doing cosplay photography in 2008, there were a few names I got to know pretty quickly : Kevin Lillard (A Fan's View), EBK (Eurobeat King) and Maboroshi (Rising Sun). These were three guys who've put in at least a decade's worth of work photographing cosplayers at cons.
I've never met Kevin. His website A Fan's View was launched in 1997 where he posted up photos he took at Anime Weekend Atlanta. Before the internet became what it was, A Fan's View was one of the few websites to go to to check out what cosplays were seen at that con. Kevin retired from the scene in 2009.
From the stories people tell and what I learn about him, Kevin definitely contributed greatly to the convention culture here. His work may look like simple hall cosplay shots but what he captured is more than just an individual cosplayer. He's captured a sense of time and community in those early photos. While cosplays back then may pale in comparison to today's cosplay, you'll have to realized at that time, there were very little resource on how to make a specific cosplay unlike the resources we have today.
Many of today's photographers may be more selectively in whom they
photographed but from what I understand, Kevin would photographed anyone and
everyone. Going through his photos (currently hosted by ACP) feels like going back in time and checking out how the con scene was like in those early years. Many of the current crop of cosplay photographers are indebted to Kevin, EBK, Rising Sun and the countless other photographer who came before us in documenting the cosplay scene.
As you may have heard, Kevin has fallen on some hard times as evidenced by his recent Facebook post.
Out of work and out of money, I've been living in my car for the last month, spending days at a nearby library, sending out mostly ignored online job applications. Already there's no money to buy food and the last things to eat were some peanuts from a vending machine at the Anderson newspaper where I had my last job interview. I spent my last change to make a 50-cent call at a pay phone hoping to speak to a recruiter and reached only voice mail. The car where I've been living started running out of fuel on the way to the library and I barely got there. With no money there will be no fuel and no way to go from place to place. Even if there is another job offer there will be no way to get there,with no money and no fuel. Unless there's some sort of miracle,this is the end of any hopes I had. All of the prayers have been answered with messages of failure. This is where we have learned what God really wants.
Personally, I feel I owe a bit of gratitude to Kevin for what he has done for the anime community so I've donated what I can. ACP has set-up a donation page on their Livejournal. I feel like in some way, Cosplay in America couldn't have existed without those early pioneers who help make the scene what it is today. Thank you Kevin, thank you EBK, thank you Rising Sun and thank you to all the other photographers for their con coverage as well as past and current cosplayers.
UPDATE
This was posted this morning (Friday Oct. 12, 2012 ) on Kevin's Facebook page.
( source : http://ow.ly/eqNM4 / Anime Expo 2006 )
UPDATE
This was posted this morning (Friday Oct. 12, 2012 ) on Kevin's Facebook page.
The old saying of how things are darkest just before the dawn has been proven true with my amazing experiences of the last day. It's humbling to have to beg and even more humbling to see the outpouring of support in my case. The donations through PayPal have been far beyond anything I could have expected. There's far more than enough to get me back on my feet and housed for a long time, so I won't need anything else. If you want to make a donation now, find a local charity that offers real help to the homeless, because there are countless people on the streets who have nothing close to the network of friends that I learned hat have. Fortunately the size of the generosity that you have shown will make it possible for me to send some of the donations to an umbrella agency in this area that works to help the homeless, so they'll be better prepared to assist those who seem to be in a hopeless predicament. Again, many many thanks.
