“Over six years, what surprised me the most was that I thought someone would have liked to discover me now,” says Skyler Dahan, who is not an undercover agent but a photographer. His mission: to infiltrate the foreign communities that gather at American fan conventions.

The photos he produced are published in Dahan’s first book, Unconventionalwhich offers a glimpse inside The major Californian meetings, from CatCon to the Emerald Cup, at the Renaissance Fair and the Gathering of the Juggalos. “As a social phenomenon, there really is nothing quite like attending a convention in America,” the photographer notes in his introduction to the book.

Based in Los Angeles, Dahan immerses himself in these events, impersonating fellow fans and posing for photos with chameleon subterfuge (literally thelike a chameleon in a picture, taken at a reptile show). He takes on new identities according to convention, transforming into an alien, snake, stoner, gun nut, clown, ailurophile, drag queen, gearhead, and Brazilian 90s video game character. “A big part of this project was about tearing down a wall,” Dahan explains, “and showing that at the end of the day, we’re all the same no matter what convention you’re in.”

Conventions are a beloved American pastime. In a sprawlingly fractured country, these spaces offer a sense of acceptance, escape and community. And they also impact global politics – political conventions are where presidential candidates have been chosen ever since. 1832. Today, fan conventions are more like religious fanaticism; cosplay is a big part of the ritual, and novices and sages have specific roles in this show.

In high school, Dahan’s first convention was Comic Con. It showed him that his love for video games was not shamed but celebrated, and alongside thousands of other avid gamers, his hobby began to take on more meaning in his life. Growing up in Los Angeles, he then moved to Paris for four years, but repatriated to his hometown, which he describes as “the epicenter of eccentricity”. He noticed how the Angelenos were louder, flashier and over the top than the Parisians and wanted to dig into all the cultural offerings that Europe could never afford; “Scenes that seemed normal for a Californian, yet so bizarre and alien to the outside world.”

So he started taking portraits of delegates, while adapting to their subtle codes. In the months and years that followed, Dahan attended many conventions around the country – including in obscure places like adultcon and Telluride Mushroom Festival – that his best friend joked that he should start dressing up and posing with them. It clicked for him: “I needed to do more than watch: I needed to embody [the] cultural,” he says.

His quest began in August 2015, when he drove past a sea of ​​gravity-defying hydraulic cars and into the Lowrider Supershow, armed with a disposable camera. He asked strangers with tattooed faces and blank stares if they would take his picture. To his surprise, they all agreed. Gaining self-confidence, he embarks on the design of his costumes and concocts identities with ornate backstory. Friends or assistants came later so that he could lose himself in these characters. “I like the idea of ​​camouflage, of having the camera pointed at me without having to be ‘me’,” he says.

Two main sources of inspiration were actor-prankster Sacha Baron Cohen and photographer Nikki S Lee, agents provocateurs whose careers were built on their transformations and interactions with people. “As a photographer, I’m constantly taking pictures of others: having the ability to turn the camera on myself was fantastic because control becomes much more negotiable,” he says.

The people on the pages are blissfully unaware that they are posing for a book for sale. “A lot of the people I photograph might have something a little off, weird or weird, but I think that’s what makes them interesting,” Dahan says.

By placing himself in the frame, Dahan shows a respect for his subjects, a desire to meet them where they are and to photograph them without altering them – thus creating a feeling of warmth and intimacy.

Unconventional is out now and available to order on the Skyler Dahan website.