Kids: Beetlejuice and Lidia

Steampunk Ash

Steampunk Ash (from Army of Darkness) by Clifton

Photos by Dim Horizon Studio

Design by Atlanta cosplayer Matt Silva of Penny Dreadful Productions

I picked Ash Williams as a costume because I love the character – he is such an imperfect and unlikely hero. Unlike most modern protagonists, Ash doesn’t have mutant powers, insane martial arts skills, or magic weapons. Instead, Ash starts the series as a laid-back everyman who is constantly suffering from the Murphy’s law adage that “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” I think at one point or another, everyone has had a time in their life where it felt like something was out to get them. So I think you can’t help but empathize with Ash and relate to the choices he makes when faced with terrifying, undead adversity. Even when he is a relatively incompetent and ill-tempered jerk, you can’t help but love him because he’s been through it all, survived, and grown into a self-assured, badass demon slayer with a chainsaw-hand and fist full of boomstick. To some degree or another, I think we all secretly envision ourselves that way—I certainly do. As it turned out, sauntering around a convention with a chainsaw hand, an uplifted eyebrow, and a penchant for telling random women to “Give me some sugar, Baby” was a delightful way to bring one of my favorite characters to life.

As far as the steampunk adaptation on the character, I first encountered that genre of costuming at DragonCon 2008. I don’t know if it was growing up reading classic sci-fi like Jules Verne, the romantic Victorian flair, or my previous career as an engineer, but I found that the steampunk style innately appealed to me. At the time, I was wearing a movie version costume of Ash from Army of Darkness and it occurred to me that the Evil Dead trilogy had a lot of Steampunk characteristics. So the idea of an alternate-era Ash with a ridiculous steam powered chainsaw became the top choice for my next DragonCon costume. I think my favorite thing about the steampunk style of costuming is the freedom of creative expression it allows. Unlike most character-based costumes where you slavishly try to reproduce every detail of a character’s ensemble, steampunk allows you to add whatever unique style you can imagine.

As far as the costume goes, I think that the chainsaw hand is definitely the most recognizable aspect of an Ash costume, but if you truly plan to pull off character, a mighty chin, and the ol’ Bruce Campbell swagger is definitely key to rocking an Ash costume.

Kids: Mad Max Reenactment

Kids Reenact Mad Max by Tino Schaedler & Achim Lippoth

For ‘Kid’s Wear’ magazine

In this photo set, a young boy dressed like Mad Max (Mel Gibson) has a hostile encounter with a tribe of savages in the middle of the desert. The photos were commissioned by 'Kid's Wear' magazine. They are the first collaboration of adNAU's Tino Schaedler and photographer Achim Lippoth. Schaedler designed the vehicles in imitation of the movie's as well as the sets, which were augmented with computer-generated landscapes by Hamburg-based production house The Scope.

 

Fresh Take: The Death of O-Ren Ishii

"The Death of O-Ren Ishii" by Shannon Bonatakis

Created for the upcoming Spoke Art Tarantino and Coen Brothers-themed art show