The project “THEY DON’T LOOK LIKE ME”, by our member Niccolò Rastrelli,  explore the Cosplay phenomenon, which is widespread worldwide. This practice, which has gained significant popularity among young people, responds to a current need in which the body doesn’t necessarily have to be beautiful, but above all, it must be seen, photographed, and shared with everyone online and beyond. The various interpretations of the phenomenon are depicted through a series of portraits, where young protagonists embody characters from the world of animation, exploring new identities for fun but also to better understand themselves and their personalities.

Inspired by John Olson’s photographs published in Life magazine in the 1970s, photographer Niccolò Rastrelli traveled to Italy, Kenya, Japan and India to capture cosplayers as rock stars alongside their families. These playful images, together with their stories, aim to highlight not only the generational contrast but also the metaphorical one between social identity, represented by mom and dad, and individual identity, expressed through the fantasy characters.

The project was exibited at Cortona On The Move 2024 and in the last edition on Lucca Comics and Games