Other People’s Clothes by Caleb Cole

The famous Harper Lee quotation, “you never really understand a person… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” is only metaphorical realistic. But visual and performing artist Caleb Cole interprets this with a second-skin substitute: clothes. Other People’s Clothes, a series of photographs as a published collection, reinvents Cole’s persona through outfits. Starting with an outfit, Cole builds outs a location and setting for the photograph. While a green sweater and yellow turtleneck ensemble transforms Cole into a stiff dentist’s receptionist, a worn cap and oversized jacket converts him into a country fellow. Though the clothes serve as the springboard, the character details are the most intriguing aspect of the photographs – that, and the deadpan and uncomfortably humorous facial expression that Cole wears.