MANILA, Philippines - Iron Man and War Machine strode
around National Book Store Greenhills like they’d start duelling at the
drop of a cog.
You’d probably mistake it as a rehearsal for alternates
for an upcoming Marvel movie, but this is the book launch of Jason
Tablante’s aptly titled “Geekology 101.”
This book answers the question: What do celebrities like
Daiana Menezes, Bubbles Paraiso, Jinri Park and Sollen Heussaff have in
common with cosplay queen Alodia Gosiengfiao?
The answer: They’ve all posed as characters for Tablante’s
sumptuously designed photographs that raise the bar for local cosplay
photography.
In fact, sometimes — as in the case of Gosiengfiao as
White Phoenix of the Crown — he rips the bar right off and flings it
into the stratosphere to burn on the psychic flames of the superhero’s
outspread wings.
His penchant for perfection becomes our delight. They look
so good they transcend fandom photography, nudging into the realm of
fine art prints.
Cosplay, or costume play, is a pop culture phenomenon that
has enabled people to behold heroes, villains and everything in
between, stepping off the page and into flesh. For geeks, cosplay is the
closest thing they’ll get to inhabiting a favorite characters’ skin.
“The characters we bring to life are fantastic to begin
with,” wrote Tablante in the book’s introduction. “They’ve got
superpowers, paranormal abilities and things that just don’t exist in
everyday life.
"I want to shoot people beyond the costumes. I want people to believe, for a moment, that superheroes can be real.”
RHIAN RAMOS AS TABLANTE's Rogue
Tablante, an upbeat and down to earth guy who has a
perennial college student aura about him, describes himself as an uber
geek. The first comic he ever bought was an issue of Marvel’s “Uncanny
X-Men” way back when he was still grade school, and he hasn’t looked
back since.
He’s also considered one of the country’s top commercial
photographers, having honed his craft for almost 15 years now. Though he
confesses he was a frustrated illustrator, he has no doubt come far
from his early days tinkering around his cousin’s dark room.
One of his specialities is photographing women in various
states of undress. Pick up a copy of one of the many local men’s
magazines and, chances are, Tablante has shot one of the pretty ladies
there.
Or, better yet, check out the gravure photo book ”The
Jinri Park Experience” that Tablante is credited as having shot in full.
Should come as little surprise; he does cite American erotic and
porngoraphic lens woman Suze Randall as one of his influences alongside
David LaChapelle.
Photographing cosplay remains close to his heart though,
and it has enabled Tablante to interlace his profession and his passion
into a single endeavor. Often, the images come off so well that his
models become geek favorites.
Take Jinri Park, who donned the costume of the X-Men’s
psychic ninja Psylocke. Her portrayal of the iconic character not only
turned out amazing, it also brought her to the attention of European
geeks who eventually flew her to Italy for a convention there last year.
“I got to go to Rome and Milan!” exclaimed Park. “I had to
wear the skimpy costume in front of Europeans. They were like `Oooh!’
and looking at my butt.” She laughed. “Jay got me interested in a lot of
geeky things, including cosplay. I’m very thankful because he opened a
new market for me.”
Cover girl Alodia Gosiengfiao echoes Park’s sentiment,
declaring that Tablante’s compilation is a giant step forward in their
efforts to have cosplay gain wider recognition.
“This is our first `official’ Pinoy cosplay book,” said
the cosplay pioneer, recounting how it was an uphill battle in the early
days for her and her friends.
“When we started doing cosplay photography, we didn’t know
that we would be compiling a book. We just did it out of the love for
what we do.”
JAY TABLANTE's BLACK CAT
The book itself is a study in how an overload of attention
to detail leads to photographic genius. And what a top notch team of
production designers, stylists, make-up artists, illustrators, costumers
and illustrators can achieve when working in perfectly-tuned concert.
The Mad Hatter, Alice and the Cheshire Cat play at cards
while gulping down beer in the “Tea After Party” tableau; Bianca King
investigates a murder scene as the local supernatural detective from the
local comics “Trese,” or casts a spell as DC Comics’ Zatanna; Brazilian
model Daiana Menezes lounges amid a sanctuary to the dark arts as the
Black Queen; Gosiengfiao pulls off Capcom’s Morrigan and anime
characters Amaha Masane and Rei Anayami with her usual aplomb.
One of the book’s highlights are the America-based
cosplayers and costume designers that Tablante shot last year when he
and his crew flew to the New York Comic-Con.
“It was luck more than anything that I was able to get in
touch with the NY cosplayers,” said Tablante. “Going there and
collaborating with [them] was a revelation. They did not disappoint.
Their costumes were top notch. Movie-worthy. Natuwa talaga ako working with them!”
Tablante shot over 10 costumes for 9 hours in NY with Yaya
Han, Riki Lecotey, Megan Marie and Marie Claude Bourbonnais. Most of
them were Marvel characters like Dazzler, Cat Woman, Black Cat and Wasp.
“Believe it or not I am going back to some Japanese characters,” he said about his upcoming cosplay shoots. “Nag-shoot ako ng
Voltes V for fun! I’ll be collaborating with a CG team and we’ll be
producing a Camp Big Falcon and Lander V and Jamie Robinson.”
Tablante is also working with Dingdong Dantes for a planned Cyclops shoot.
Also in the works are more gravure foto books (like the
Jinri Park Experience 2), and continuing with more cosplay images that
can hopefully be brought to the ultimate geek powwow that is the San
Diego Comic Con. - Rappler.com
“Geekology 101” is available at all National Book Store outlets at Php 345. All proceeds will go to Operation Smile.
