ENTRY DESCRIPTION
The picture was taken at a convention in Germany before the pandemic. The picture is part of a series that explores youth counter cultures. In this case the Cosplay and Roleplay culture. Cosplay is a passionate pursuit to express and live pop culture, by creating and acting as your fictionate character from a novel, comic, movie etc. This portrait shows a custom Viking character. The picture was taken with a Hasselblad camera and captured on Tmax 400 film.
AUTHOR
Ulrich Mannchen (1984) was born and raised in a small village in Frankonia, Germany. At an early age, he became passionate about photography. He dedicated over a decade to honing his skills for analog black and white portrait photography.
After earning his master's in design, communications, and photography, Ulrich moved on the desire to leave his small village and explore the world. With a camera in hand, he spent 10 years traveling to over 40 nations in pursuit of "the most unique characters." In this time he was able to document people from all tribes, villages, and walks of life.
His work amplifies the stories of native tribes in Southern Ethiopia, the Cosplay scene in China, villagers in rural India, and the dying nomadic culture of the Mongolians to name a few. Ulrich utilizes portrait photography to honor the individual character and experience of each person he captures - with the sole purpose of bringing greater awareness to issues like globalization, human trafficking, orphan crises, and extreme poverty.
He has exhibited in multiple galleries and exhibitions in China, Europe, and the United States and taught, lectured, and ran workshops in numerous universities and schools worldwide.
Ulrich believes in empowering people through portraiture and using photography as a bridge for others to learn, grow, and connect. His work is created through a traditional approach of black and white photography. All his works are captured on film.
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