Immune Media's Questions for Caleb Cole:


1.  Tell me about the Other People’s Clothes project...What’s the purpose of it, and why is it of value?

I've been working on Other People's Clothes for almost 3 years.  It started as a way to work with secondhand clothing and items (which I have been fascinated with since I was a kid) and also as a way to examine some of the themes I am interested in: gender, identity, costume, performance, what the objects we surround ourselves with say about us as people.  But then it really became something more for me when the situations I found myself most drawn to were solitary moments of quiet reflection, moments of expectation and waiting.  I noticed these were the narratives I was writing for the strangers I saw on a daily basis and that I was actually using the clothing and the characters as a way to think about the ways people make sense of the lives they must ultimately live alone.  It's not as depressing as it sounds, I promise.  I think that's obvious in the reactions of people when they see the work.  And maybe that's the purpose, the value.  Life is strange and life is sad but there is also a lot of humor in it.  There has to be or how could we keep on living?

2.  Specifics:  Where in the world did you find the locations and how did you get access to them?  What’s your favorite location?  Did you take the photos by: assistant? Timer? Remote?

A lot of the locations I find as I'm driving to and from jobs or openings, just during my daily commute.  Others are locations that people let me into: their apartment, their dad's basement, the place where they work.  I'll try shooting anywhere.  I will bring tubs and tubs of clothing and see if any of my people will fit into the space or I will use clothing at a location to dream up someone new on the spot.  It all depends what I have access to and how much time I have.  I usually work by myself with the self-timer but sometimes it would be impossible to do that and get the shot that I want.  Those are the times my partner helps me out.  She knows me so well by now that she knows when I want to take a picture and I don't even have to tell her.  She's also handy when we're sneaking in somewhere that we don't exactly have access to because she helps me set up, shoot, and tear down before anyone can yell at us.  And if they do yell at us she's almost 6 feet tall and used to do Roller Derby.

3.  What's the first time you ever got paid for doing photography?

I was paid to photograph a friend's brother's wedding after I had been in photo school for only a few months.  It was terrifying but I learned a lot just being thrown into the fire.

4.  How much Photoshop is too much?

I think the question should not be "How much Photoshop is too much?" but rather "How much Photoshop is needed (in a given situation)?" or "How much Photoshop is needed to achieve a certain goal?"  I don't think I've ever believed much in photography representing Truth or Realness, so how Photoshop affects authenticity doesn't really interest me.  What does interest me is how people are using Photoshop to further certain values or ideas and what those values and ideas are.  I'm more interested in the goal of the manipulation than the tool used to manipulate.  I'm also very interested in why the use of Photoshop has people so upset and what that says about what people believe photography's function is.

5.  Now that everyone's a photographer, will professionals survive?

I know that my value as a photographer is not only the technical proficiency of my image-making.  I will likely not ever be able to afford the very best equipment that would blow my competitors away. There will always be someone else who knows more about the technical side of photography than I do, no matter how much I strive to learn.  On the flipside, I also cannot afford to work for as cheaply as some are willing to work.  What I do have that no one else has is my own ideas and perspective, and what I can control is how hard I try, how much work I make, how polite I am, and how professionally I behave.  Maybe the photographers who have built their businesses upon being the gatekeepers to and operators of certain technology should be worried about their futures, but I'm not just the human that accompanies the rental of my equipment.  I have stories to tell.

6.  Have you ever seen Quantum Leap?

I used to be obsessed with it as a kid.  In grade school I had some weird stomach ailment that kept me out of school for over a month and all I did was lie around and watch reruns of Night Court and Quantum Leap.  I think that probably says a lot about the artist I have become today.

7.  Would you rather wear: the black latex thing or the O.R. scrubs from morning til night, 5 days/week for the rest of your life?

So this assumes that a) I don't have to sleep in the outfit and b) I can choose which 5 days each week to wear it?  In terms of comfort I should pick the scrubs, but I imagine that looking like a doctor all the time would come with some unpleasant expectations, so I'm going to pick the latex outfit.  It could only help my visibility as an artist and if I'm going to make myself into a character, I should really go all out, right?

8.  Anything funny happen while shooting this series?

I usually make a point of avoiding the public so I can be less rushed and self-conscious.  There was one shoot (for an image I didn't end up using) where I was borrowing the driveway of a very large Victorian home and was sitting on the ground in a very small, very pink and very sparkly ballet/princess outfit.  I went out early in the morning to try and avoid people, but what ended up happening is that my partner was across the street with the camera and many joggers/pedestrians were very confused as to why a small balding man was sitting near the road alone in a pink tutu.  They slowed to gawk or double-take, but at least no one was mean.  A few people even smiled.

9.  If you had one piece of advice for a young photographer/artist, what would it be?

Don't stop.  Don't ever stop.  Keep looking at things, keep making things, keep meeting new people, keep trying new stuff.  Also, be nice.

Caleb Cole is 29 years old, and graduated in 2008 from the New England School of Photography with triple honors. Prior to coming to NESOP, he earned his BA in Sociology and Gender Studies from Indiana University.

Cole is a former altar server, scout, and 4-H Grand Champion in Gift Wrapping. His mother instilled in him a love of garage sales and thrift stores, where he developed a fascination with the junk that people leave behind.

Caleb is a 2009 Artadia Award winner and a 2009 Photolucida Critical Mass finalist. He has exhibited at a variety of venues, including the Danforth Museum of Art, the Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts, Photo Center Northwest (Seattle), the Childs Gallery (Boston), the Farmani Gallery (NY), and the Cushing-Martin Gallery at Stonehill College.