About us

Who’s on the organising team?

  • Alison Blakeley (she/her)

    Have Camera Will Snap

    CO-FOUNDER

    (Photo by A Wong Photography)

  • Michael Cassimaty (he/him)

    Cassa’s Shots

    CO-FOUNDER

    (Photo by Showberry Photography)

Why “Black Hole”?

Initally, because one of the co-founders is a geeky scientist, and in astronomy, a black hole is what comes after a supernova (Australian con-going cosplayers will get the pun there).

But, it also represents what cosplay and photography can sometimes feel like - a bit of an isolated hobby that you can just sink into and sometimes feel like something that you might not be able to escape from.

TL;DR: it started as a pun and became a bit poetic.

FAQs

What’s the goal of Black Hole Events?

Our primary goal is to create a safe envrionment for cosplayers and photographers to network and make cool images.

Other goals include being able to create an opportunity to shoot in cool locations where cost might be prohibitive for an individual shoot.

Why is there a cost involved?

At it’s most basic, unfortunately venue hire is never free. There’s also psychological studies that suggest people are more likely to attend something if they’ve paid for it…

Flippancy aside, we do aim to keep costs low as we understand that cost of living is creating difficulties for everyone.

What do you mean by “safe space”?

Similar to the first rule of the Internet - “don’t be a dick”. We welcome anyone who would like to attend one of our events, regardless of their skill level and background. We ask that you respect others’ personal space, costumes, equipment and pronouns. Behaviour contrary to this may result in you being banned from future events.

I have an idea for a shoot. Who can I talk to about it?

Us! Email us at blackholecosvent@gmail.com or reach out via our instagram. We will discuss whether we think it could work as a big group shoot or whether it is more suited to an individual or small group shoot. Both Alison and Cassa are working photographers and are happy to work with you on more personal projects as well as organising Black Hole Events.

If you would like to join in on helping to organise one of the events, let us know too!

I don’t think I have enough experience as a model, can I come along? Or: I’m still just learning photography - can I come along?

Everyone starts somewhere with a new skill and we all only get better through practice. Attending our events gives you an opportunity to practice those skills in front of or behind the camera. While the focus of our events to date have been to create photography opportunities for cosplayers, there’s also potential for creating workshops to help photographers develop their skills (or portfolio).

For cosplayers: Chat with your tog about whether you think you need some help posing. Bring along a moodboard of the kind of photos you might like to get or for pose references.

For photographers: While most of our events won’t be photography classes per se, you have other photographers surrounding you on the day to help with settings or troubleshooting. The best things to know prior to coming along is the exposure triangle and how that contributes to an image and how to change settings on your camera.