View allAll Photos Tagged comiccon2014
ComicCon began in San Diego in 1970 with 100 people in attendance. This year, its 45th event, will have over 130,000 in attendance, with thousands more spectators enjoying the grounds & events outside of the paid admissions areas. The convention center is more than maxed out, and the convention now takes over a good part of downtown San Diego for 5 days each summer.
ComiCon showcases comic books, science fiction/fantasy related film, television, popular arts, pop culture and entertainment in horror, animation, anime, collectibles, card games, video games, fantasy games, etc. The convention is the largest convention of its kind in the world.
My sister was kind enough to venture into ComiCon territory with me this weekend. An indescribable, over-crowded event. She was also kind enough to let me borrow her bridge camera, since my camera is 'in the shop' for 4-6 weeks. I had a really fun day with her; people watching and being amazed that thousands would wait in 5 hour lines and sleep in lawn chairs overnight to participate in it all. When I saw Britney from far away, I was hoping she would be my Stranger for the day, but just as I approached her, a t.v. crew asked her if they could film and interview her. After she signed their waivers, they asked her to wait on a bench for "just a couple minutes" while they finished up with Batman and his cohorts. I thought she might be waiting a bit longer, so I asked her if she would be part of 100 Strangers, and we'd work around the t.v. crew. She cheerfully agreed, and every few minutes we would pause our conversation to let people take pictures with her, and media photograph or video her. She is extremely popular at ComicCon!
Britney is 26 years old, from Sacramento, California, about an 8 hour drive from San Diego. Last year was the first year that she and her friends attended ComicCon, and they hope to go every year now. Britney's "character" is "Eevee" from Pokemon. She chose Eevee because she has never seen one done in CosPlay (costume play), she loves the character, and Britney made it all herself, including the makeup. That's how she spends most of her free time: thinking about, researching, designing and creating costumes for Halloween and ComicCon. She never wears the same costume twice! She looked so professional and beautiful that I asked if she wanted to go into makeup and/or costume design professionally. To my surprise, she said no, she really wants to be a mortician. She's unsure, though, because she's not sure she can learn to memorize & identify all of the biology needed for that career. Currently, she works at Spencer Gifts retail store.
She has a male Chihuahua named Itachi, meaning weasel, because he's a silly, burrowing, weasel-y dog! He especially likes to burrow into blankets and things. Britney said for a while, often she wouldn't be able to find him, but then he'd appear. Recently, she moved some furniture, and she found he had made a nest from "paper/materials stuff-he'd-collected" under a big, stuffed chair. She got him when he was just 4 weeks old, and he's 5 years old now. As much as Itachi loves to "be" places with Britney, (dog parks, stores, friends'), he hates to "go" places. He ignores and evades her if she invites him to go, and if she takes him in the car, he makes funny, other-worldly sounds the entire car ride.
Britney was born and raised in Sacramento, and has only left it for a couple years at age 13 to move with her family to Salem, Oregon. She loved the people there - very nice, friendly, polite, and welcoming, but she couldn't stand the weather. Too much grey and rain when we are used to living in sunshine most days.
She is also an accomplished karaoke singer, (just for fun!), and her favorite song of choice is "Zombie" by the Cranberries. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv5wF-E9D8Y
Britney: thank you for being sweet and gracious to give me so much of your time when there were so many distractions and others vying for your attention. I had a great time chatting with you, and I encourage you to go for your mortician's degree. I think you would be wonderful and comforting, helping people through a difficult time of losing someone. Go for it! Please leave a "hi" comment if you got to see your portraits here, and I can email you copies if you'd like them.
Find out more about this project, and see other photographers' portraits at www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/