Adolescence (from Latin: adolescere meaning "to grow up") is a transitional stage of physical and psychological human development generally occurring during the period from puberty to legal adulthood (age of majority). The period of adolescence is most closely associated with the teenage years, though its physical, psychological and cultural expressions can begin earlier and end later. For example, although puberty has been historically associated with the onset of adolescent development, it now typically begins prior to the teenage years and there has been a normative shift of it occurring in preadolescence, particularly in females (see early and precocious puberty). Physical growth, as distinct from puberty (particularly in males), and cognitive development generally seen in adolescence, can also extend into the early twenties. Thus chronological age provides only a rough marker of adolescence, and scholars have found it difficult to agree upon a precise definition of adolescence.
A thorough understanding of adolescence in society depends on information from various perspectives, most importantly from the areas of psychology, biology, history, sociology, education, and anthropology. Within all of these perspectives, adolescence is viewed as a transitional period between childhood and adulthood, whose cultural purpose is the preparation of children for adult roles. It is a period of multiple transitions involving education, training, employment and unemployment, as well as transitions from one living circumstance to another.
Cosplay photography is a form of photography where the subject of the photo focuses mainly on a cosplayer and their attire and/or prop making skills. A majority of this form of photography is done at events or conventions, such as San Diego Comic-Con where cosplayers attend in costume, however, it is becoming more popular to schedule individual photoshoots at various locations and outside convention schedules.
This form of photography is a combination of fashion photography and portrait photography where both the clothing and the portraiture are the main subject. Cosplay magazines, such as Cosmode, have developed a focus on the photographer and the different styles of cosplay photography. The photos can be black and white, color, any size or shape with any lens, so long as a coslayer is the main subject..
Cosplay is a combination word of "costume" and "play", to describe the performance of acting and dressing like a character from a particular series. These series can be from any genre of entertainment from comic books to anime to sci-fi and horror, live-action or animation.
The photography of these individuals is becoming a style of photography that photographers can now be hired for a shoot rather than as a hobby, which it has been up until recent years. Groups like The Enthusiasts have begun to capitalize on this growing trend by setting up booths at conventions to take photos of cosplayers and sell them the photos for a certain price per photo, either digitally or print. But there many others who still do cosplay photography on-location and in private, scheduled shoots. Both professional and amateur cosplay photography is common at comic book conventions.