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Bizarre yet Familiar: Domestic Costumes

BACK•03 Dec 2013
ReadJo Case

Austrian artist Klaus Pichler has created a bizarre yet familiar photographic series, Just the Two of Us, photographing different kinds of people who habitually wear costumes, in their homes. The dissonance between the outlandish appearance of the subjects and their very ordinary surrounds is striking.

Pichler says he was interested in capturing two kinds of information about his subjects: what they’re conveying by their choice of mask, or costume (each ‘indirectly conveys information about the person behind it’) and what their living space says about them.

‘Nowhere else is the (abstract) link between the person behind the mask and his or her alter ego as visible as in their own home,’ he says.

A live action role-player: someone who represents their chosen character in person during the game.
A live action role-player: someone who represents their chosen character in person during the game.
Cosplayers recreate costumes portraying characters from manga, animes and films.
Cosplayers recreate costumes portraying characters from manga, animes and films.
A cosplayer.
A cosplayer.
A 'furrie', as their animal alter ego.
A 'furrie', as their animal alter ego.
'Fasching' is the German name for the practice of getting dressed up during the six-week period of Lent. Costumes worn in Fasching are not based on a particular theme, but serve the purpose of turning everyday circumstances upside down.
'Fasching' is the German name for the practice of getting dressed up during the six-week period of Lent. Costumes worn in Fasching are not based on a particular theme, but serve the purpose of turning everyday circumstances upside down.
The growing interest in the Middle Ages has resulted in a growing number of people who have their own suit of armour designed.
The growing interest in the Middle Ages has resulted in a growing number of people who have their own suit of armour designed.