The Captiva Collection  

Since 1999, I have been photographing people in public places; on the street, at events, in conventions, workplaces and shopping malls.  The subjects are individuals who assume the identity of pop culture icons, historical figures, fictional characters and animals.  The images also include pictures of people with applications of medical devices, clothing or other miscellaneous details that create the impression of a costume, an exaggeration or a layering of identity.

I became interested in this project as an outgrowth of my job as the public events supervisor for the city of Huntington Beach, a suburban southern California beach city. The city has a number of outdoor events on the beach, in parks and on the streets that include patriotic parades, historical reenactments, sporting competitions and holiday events.  A number of the images have been taken in Huntington Beach during such events.  Following my initial interest in Huntington Beach, I expanded my search to other regional areas and many other images come from throughout southern California. 

The subjects have been photographed using the “mug shot” tradition which was employed by early anthropologists or serious cultural tourists using photography to catalog the exotic.  The mug shot continues to be widely seen in identification cards such as drivers licenses, ID cards and police arrest pictures.   These are images taken for reasons other than art.  The deadpan expression of the models is intended to present the best likeness of their appearance in the most neutral fashion, “as evidence”.   It reduces our identity to surface details rather than having it rest with the soul, raising questions of essence and appearance.

The original pictures in this series are taken by a Polaroid Captiva camera.  Polaroid film has been used for years on ID cards or to document evidence, such as in crimes.  Beyond its convenience as an instant image producer, it is a one-of-a-kind record, since there is no negative.   The uniform size of these Polaroids and their sturdy structure make them seem like small same-sized print portraits that were mounted on cards and traded and collected in the 1850’s and 60’s during the years that photography was becoming more popularized and accessible.  

Through this work, I am partly acting as an anthropologist, searching for and cataloging the unusual or excessive.  The series is named after the camera, Captiva, to reflect the hunting or capturing of images.  Taken together, they form a collection of sorts.  The images are organized and classified as specimens and placed in general categories based on criteria such as formal qualities, assumed identity or like-minded transformations. 

There are a group of photos of representations of Lincoln, Elvis or Santa, the originals of whom are dead or non-existent, but who continue to live on through impersonators and believers.  A particular favorite is Lincoln, who in real life was the first president to use photographs to spread his image, making him an icon of a president and of a time and place.  None of the likenesses are convincing, but you still know who the subject is intending to be.   With the right hat, sunglasses or beard, anyone can suggest Lincoln, Elvis or Santa.

Our face is our identity to the outside world and these subjects put a layer over that face.  They are taking on an alternative identity, adopting a persona, or, in most cases, combining themselves with someone or something else.  The obvious surface application of the alternative identity becomes more of a merger than a complete change.  While not completely convincing, these low tech transformations are oddly believable, even when you are asked to assume that a woman is part bee, rabbit or cat.  These subjects have multiple identities, at once true and false, assumed and genuine, feigned and sincere.