My Little Pony Grows Up: Amy Lombard’s Glimpse into Bronycon

In the the past year, Brooklyn-based Amy Lombard has photographed multiple animal fashion shows, Barbie’s dream house, a steam punk convention, and “Bronies.”

If you might be wondering what a “Bronie” is, have no fear—Lombard was sent by New York Magazine’s The Cut to capture Bronycon and its enthusiastic participants for all of us not in the know.

What was it about Bronycon—besides the glitter—that made you want to photograph it?
“Having grown up watching My Little Pony, the adult fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic have always fascinated me. There are a lot of interesting layers to this fandom, especially when you take into consideration the enormous amount of male fans since the show was originally targeted for younger girls. That said, naturally when I found out about Bronycon I knew that I had to go and photograph it just to experience it.”

Were there any challenges to this particular shoot? And how did you find this community to be?
“When photographing in a convention center the challenge is always the space—blank walls and convention curtains don’t exactly make for a beautiful or dynamic setting, though sometimes that’s part of the charm. Luckily, in this case, the colorful subject matter compensated for that. As far as the community, everyone I met at Bronycon was extremely welcoming and friendly, which seems fitting because generally Bronies are drawn to the show because of its message of positivity and kindness. Being the jaded New Yorker that I am, I am not exactly used to this. It was definitely refreshing.”

This post was contributed by photographer Sahara Borja.

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