Steph interviews Caleb, Part 2

This is a continuation of my never-ending interview with Caleb Cole that began last July.

In your series Other People’s Clothes, I know that you are very particular in choosing the details of the characters you portray (location, clothing, etc). I’m wondering to what extent you feel a responsibility to these made-up characters, and when you know that you’ve portrayed them accurately?

I do feel a responsibility, but mostly it’s a responsibility to myself, a desire to as clearly as possible show the people I see in my head. I only wear an item of clothing once, because it belongs to someone, and even though no one else would know if I wore new things or the same stuff twice, I would know, and I’m sure that would translate in the images somehow.

And it’s hard to know if you’ve portrayed these people accurately when you only have yourself to trust, when you yourself might have other motives that get in the way — but on the other hand, can I ever be wrong if the people originate within me?

In the end it’s a gut feeling about whether or not it’s right. I try not to over-think it when I shoot, to just chase the fuzzy dream of this person I have in my head and live in their space for a while, and then afterwards in editing I can decide if I really found them or if it’s just me in the picture waiting for that person to arrive.

If you had all the time and resources in the world to work on it, where would you take this project? What would come next?

I think right now it’s about access to locations. I would love to explore more (inside) public and commercial locations because at this point the people in my series are relegated, for the most part, to domestic locations and very public outside spaces… I think there is a lot more I can do in similar spaces to what I have been working in, but I would love to shoot in a grocery store, a mall, a bank, a rollerskating rink, etc. I often feel limited by access issues. I would also love to travel around the country in a bus of clothing and equipment so that I could stop anywhere I found a fantastic new location and shoot there — and I’d stop at thrift stores along the way for new clothes.

After having near-daily critiques in school, what tools are you using now to edit and critique your own work? What’s easier or harder about being on your own and setting your own assignments?

I feel really bad about saying this, but not much has changed for me since school in terms of critique. In school I was doing a lot of self-critique and now I’m doing the same. I would say that I don’t spend nearly as much time focusing my energy on what my project means, or what direction it should head in, and right now I’m really focusing on producing more work so that in the future I can reevaluate what it all means. It took me a long time to hit my stride in terms of the visual look of the whole project, the tone, the gestures — now that I don’t have to think about those things I can focus on other elements. I’m a lot less stressed about it and feel a lot more free, but I do miss the way that school forced me to concentrate on the project and work on it at a more regular pace. The project sometimes takes a backseat to making money and surviving these days. I also really miss the cheerleading, the pep-talks. I have to give myself pep-talks these days and it isn’t really the same.

Photo © Caleb Cole.