IDENTITY SERIES: COLE FAWCETT
For the next interview we talked to Cole Fawcett. We have been following Cole´s work for quite a while and initially fell in love with the mood in his photographs and the way he allows the personalities shine through in his portraits. There is an imminent beauty, honesty and straight forwardness in his work and we love the sensitivity and interplay between his subjects and the settings in his imagery.
1. What does identity mean to you?
I tend to think of identity in terms of micro elements.
1.The first thing you do in the morning
2.What you always buy at the grocery store
3.How long you spend on your phone
4.Is wine involved in your daily routine?
All these little things give us character making up our identity.
2. How does fashion impact the way we express our identity?
Fashion is the things we don’t need to say. People already know so much about me from my clothing even before I speak. Fashion also brings people together. You can’t imagine how many times me and my friends say let’s just get dressed up and just go somewhere.
3. Were you part of any "sub-culture" growing up?
No, I was very normal growing up in Calgary and didn’t drink until I was 18. That has all changed to say the least.
4. Do you think the premises of what we build our identities on is changing with the younger generations today?
Yes! Social media plays such an important role in our lives and how they are constructed. The younger generations have more access to social media than ever before and are learning much faster than I ever did. Their identities and behaviours are influenced so much by what they see on social media and in the future I hope they use it as a tool to amplify their voice rather than bringing others down.
5. How do you work with the concept of identity in your photography?
Generally in my work, I tend to show references to models and from there they impersonate that character. Characters I show are generally soft and romanticized often different from the models identity. Commonly there tends to be resistance for male models to embrace those characters in fears of looking too feminine or dainty. I hope the male model industry continues to evolve with the definition of manhood and more male model are open to expanding their identities on set.
6. What are you working on at the moment?
I am working on going to Paris this summer. I have a couple ideas in mind along the sea and at some very magical estates. In addition, all the work I’ve done so far is primary sourced from Europe and this summer I hope to put some names to faces.
1. What does identity mean to you?
I tend to think of identity in terms of micro elements.
1.The first thing you do in the morning
2.What you always buy at the grocery store
3.How long you spend on your phone
4.Is wine involved in your daily routine?
All these little things give us character making up our identity.
2. How does fashion impact the way we express our identity?
Fashion is the things we don’t need to say. People already know so much about me from my clothing even before I speak. Fashion also brings people together. You can’t imagine how many times me and my friends say let’s just get dressed up and just go somewhere.
3. Were you part of any "sub-culture" growing up?
No, I was very normal growing up in Calgary and didn’t drink until I was 18. That has all changed to say the least.
4. Do you think the premises of what we build our identities on is changing with the younger generations today?
Yes! Social media plays such an important role in our lives and how they are constructed. The younger generations have more access to social media than ever before and are learning much faster than I ever did. Their identities and behaviours are influenced so much by what they see on social media and in the future I hope they use it as a tool to amplify their voice rather than bringing others down.
5. How do you work with the concept of identity in your photography?
Generally in my work, I tend to show references to models and from there they impersonate that character. Characters I show are generally soft and romanticized often different from the models identity. Commonly there tends to be resistance for male models to embrace those characters in fears of looking too feminine or dainty. I hope the male model industry continues to evolve with the definition of manhood and more male model are open to expanding their identities on set.
6. What are you working on at the moment?
I am working on going to Paris this summer. I have a couple ideas in mind along the sea and at some very magical estates. In addition, all the work I’ve done so far is primary sourced from Europe and this summer I hope to put some names to faces.