“Taken in four three-hour shoots on location, I felt like I had successfully inserted myself into a parallel psychedelic pastel universe. These young children were so full of joy, vitality, and openness, so celebratory, and yet most of them were demonstrating professional levels of engagement with both their costumes and their gestures. I felt privileged to connect with them and illuminate their experience.” – Marshall Weber

The 200 photographs of the Mirror project were all taken at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany in October of 2009. The majority of teenagers depicted are participating in “Cosplay,” short for costume play. “Cosplayers” wear – and the hardcore often manufacture – costumes and accessories to represent a specific manga (comic book), anime (animated film), computer game, or other digital youth culture character. Sources for the Cosplay documented in the Mirror project include DeathNote, Full Metal Alchemist, Hetalia, Naruto, Pokemon, and Sailormoon. Some of the youth depicted in Mirror are dressed in the style of Emo-Goth (Emotional–Gothic), a fashion sub-culture associated with a pastiche of post- Punk/New Wave/Glam Rock and post-Heavy Metal Goth styles.

Photography and text by Marshall Weber.
Digital production and printing by Dana F. Smith.
Design and layout by Dana Smith and Marshall Weber.
Inkjet-printed on Moab Entrada paper using Epson pigment-based inks, with a hand sewn binding by Dana Smith. All materials in this book are of archival quality.
Published by DanaDanaDana Limited Editions, San Francisco, California
2010, 11.5×12.5,” edition of 20.