They Don’t Look Like Me is a photographic study by Niccolò Rastrelli of the global cosplay phenomenon told through intimate family portraits. Young protagonists interpret characters that exist only in virtual worlds, exploring new identities for fun and to better understand themselves and their own personalities.

Rastrelli was born in Florence in 1977. He discovered photography during university when he bought his first camera using supermarket loyalty points. Since then, his work has focused on people and the expression of their identity, with a perspective that blends humor, authenticity, and lightness.

Drawing inspiration from John Olson’s 1970s Life magazine photographs of rock stars with their mothers, Rastrelli traveled to Italy, Kenya, Japan, and India to portray cosplayers with their families in their homes.

“I portrayed cosplayers as rock stars together with their families to emphasize the contrast—not only generational but metaphorical—between social identity, represented by mom and dad, and individual identity, told through fictional characters,” says Rastrelli.

Cosplay gained momentum through Japanese comic conventions in the early eighties, sparked by the popularity of anime and manga. Practitioners devote their free time almost exclusively to this parallel life. What began in Asia has now spread worldwide.

The transformation of our appearance is as old as body consciousness itself—from theatre to carnival, religious festivals to initiation rites. Cosplay is its most contemporary manifestation.