Intro and interview by Barnhart.
Colin Simmons is an emerging photographer in the NYC scene. He has an inspiring style and perspective that makes me want to be with friends, see the country, meet new people, and play in the streets on New York City. We met though our mutual friend Ruel Wormz Smith, who Colin plays along side of in their band
Imaginary Friends. Dave Ghandi Hall just made his new
online portfolio come to life, which you can check out after reading the interview.
Where are you from and where do you live now?
I grew up moving around the Midwest, changing schools and cities every few years. My
family settled in Minneapolis, MN when I was in 7th grade and I stayed there until I was
18 when I moved to New York City. Currently I live in Crown Heights Brooklyn.
What's your photography background? How'd you get into the hustle?
Art was always a major part of my life, music, painting, drawing, films, photography....I
spent a lot of time creating things, so I guess it was just never a question of what I was
going to do. I hated school since day one so anything that involved formal education
wasn’ t for me, I couldn’ t learn in that atmosphere. I tried film school for a few years but
lost interest. When I met my good friend Justin Carrasquillo in maybe mid-2004 he was
the one who guided me into believing that I could have a future as an artist. I was just
kind of working some bullshit job and he was like “ hell yeah you can make a living as a
photographer....why wait? you don’ t need to finish school, just put together a portfolio
and start knocking on doors” , you know that sort of thing. So here I am.
What do you shoot with?
Contax G2, Yashica T4, Olympus Epic Stylus, a custom gold-plated Polaroid Big Shot,
just bought a Canon 550d.
What do you most enjoy shooting?
Anything conceptual I suppose. Imagery that appears in my head that I want to see
in the physical form, whether it involves people or objects. I’ m interested in creating
a commentary on everyday life also, placing the random and unspectacular on an
examination table in a way.
Where do you look for inspiration?
Music, movies, literature, painting, society....old horror movies thanks to my father’ s
influence, like Vincent Price and Hammer Horror flicks and such. Ralph Bakshi, Stanley
Kubrick, punk rock, Shane MacGowan, Lou Reed, James Joyce, New York in the 70’ s
and 80’ s, S.E. Hinton, Ladislaw Starewicz all come to mind....I revisit those things
frequently for inspiration.
Do you have a favorite photographer?
Not really, I don’ t follow photography very closely, but I would have to say Harry
Peccinotti is up there at the top of my list. Andy Warhol’ s polaroids are amazing. I
can really identify with Lewis Baltz’ s approach to his work, searching for beauty in
desolation. Nan Goldin, Nobuyoshi Araki, Ryan McGinley’ s Moonmilk series.
What kind of projects or assignments have your been working on lately?
I’ m primarily focusing on behind the scenes projects at the moment: looking for
representation, building a solid contact list and preparing for a promotional campaign,
website overhaul, things like that. I’ m also fleshing out some motion ideas, which
is really where my mind has returned to lately. One is a music video for the band
Imaginary Friends, another is a short film I guess you could call it, although I think it
would be better described as a moment in time. Also I’ ve been wanting to do a horror-
inspired ‘ fashion’ story so I’ m currently playing around with where to go with that
because if done wrong it could be a disaster. I don’ t like jumping into a project, I prefer
some planning and storyboarding.
What direction do you want to go as a photographer?
Galleries and advertising. I’ ve been shooting editorial the past two years but I want to
expand from there. I really want to see my images in large format in galleries, I think
that’ s always been the intention for my path as a photographer. I definitely want to have
shows, I don’ t see my work as comfortable in a magazine or on the internet so much as I
feel it belongs in book form or in a space where it can breathe.
How are things going with I maginary Friends? Any big plans with the band?
Ah yes, I play drums in Imaginary Friends and things are going well. We’ ve had a bunch
of shows in March and are going to be heading into the studio to record an EP, possibly
a full length, in June so that’ s pretty rad. We haven’ t been in the studio for a while and
I think it’ s a great place to grow. You can record and then sit back and listen and break
down what’ s going on and build on the overall direction of the music.
How did you meet all the guys in the band?
We met thru skateboarding and bmx in NYC. I first met our singer Shayne back in ’ 99/
2000 skating at BAM (when there was still a skate spot at BAM) and I used to see Ron
and Ruel doing their thing on their bikes....flash forward to 2007 and we all crossed paths
again and started making music.
Who are your influences music-wise?
Too many to mention, we’ re a very diverse group....we don’ t really try to fit into a certain
sound as a band, it usually just comes together very organically. I guess we influence
each other.
Is there any story behind the name "Cadillac Gypsy" (Colin's website)?
It just came to me one day, kind of a nom de plume. The “ Cadillac” part comes from my
love for early 1970’ s Cadillacs. To me Cadillac always meant top of the line too, you
know, the best. My grandmother, who was like the Godfather or something in our family
when I was growing up, always drove a big, leather upholstered, stinking of cigarettes
Cadillac and for whatever reason that was always cool to me.
The “ Gypsy” part is me. My father’ s side actually has Eastern European gypsy blood.
I remember we had this one framed photograph of my great, great grandmother, this
old gypsy woman from Austria-Hungary, so it’ s a part of my ancestral history. Also
my mother’ s parents were refugees from Poland and France after the Nazis messed
everything up out there, so there was no real solid base on that side.
Then growing up we moved around a ton, so I feel like my family doesn’ t really come
from anywhere, and I let that become a part of my identity. I wanted to embrace that
aspect because I think that it’ s been a huge influence on who I am now and the path that I
chose in life. It exposed me to a lot of amazing experiences and people.
Any advice for aspiring photographers or musicians?
Strike first, strike hard, show no mercy.
Give us a quote to end this with.
“Let’s win, before we’re dancing at the end of our rope with no music.”
See more of Colin's work at
CadillacGypsy.com
