The photo exhibition “They Don’t Look Like Me” by Niccolò Rastrelli will be on display at Noir Gallery (Nairobi) from January 23rd to 28th.
“THEY DON’T LOOK LIKE ME” is a photographic project composed of a series of portraits of cosplayers together with their parents, whose intent is to reflect on the theme of individuality through the world of Cosplay, in which the young protagonists play characters taken from manga, anime or video games, exploring new identities, for fun but also to better understand themselves, abandoning for a while the social identity given by the context in which they live. Inspired by John Olson’s photographs published in Life in the 1970s, Rastrelli portrayed cosplayers as rock stars together with their family to emphasize the contrast not only generational but metaphorical between social identity, represented by parents, and individual identity, told through fictional characters.
The photos that Rastrelli took in Kenya – where Cosplay is becoming an increasingly visible phenomenon within youth culture – were selected for this exhibition.
Exhibition opening event in the presence of the photographer
Thursday, Jan. 23 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Noir Gallery – Free admission upon reservation (via email at iicnairobi@esteri.it)
Exhibition display
Jan. 24-28 – Noir Gallery
Free admission
This event is organized in collaboration with Nairobi Comic Convention (NAICCON).
BIO OF NICCOLO’ RASTRELLI
Niccolò was born in Florence in 1977; he is a documentary and portraitist photographer.
He approached photography during the university, after won a photo camera by a supermarket collection points. In Florence, he studied photography and in 2004 he moved to Milan. His photographic research is focuses on people and their identity.
Niccolò now working on personal project and assignment.