Kitschy-Kitschy-Coo - Interview with the Photocartoonist

Interview with the Photocartoonist

Imagine you are walking down the street. There is nothing special about you today.. You are waiting for the bus, running out for a jug of milk, taking your dog for a walk, doing ordinary things on an ordinary day...

A woman rushes towards you, with a huge grin & a camera, waving a piece of paper & asks you to sign a release. She then proceeds to ask you to make a silly face, but not just any silly face: ’Your favorite silly face that you had when you were 11 years old.’

What do you do?

Well, if you are like most of the people that Kat Caverly, the Photocartoonist, meets, you sign & pose baby!

Completely disarming, thoroughly engaging, she romances the silly out of you. Yes, romances. Her joy is contagious, her smile continuous as she poses you this way & that, complimenting you on your ability, your gift, for making people laugh. There you are, in public, exposing your goofy self to a stranger, with no money changing hands. Then, she leaves.

Do you feel dirty afterwards? Ashamed? Embarrassed? Do you experience the same feelings as after a one-night-stand? Is it worse as you were ’doing it’ in broad daylight on a public street -- in front of a camera no less?!

Most of Kat’s subjects don’t. In fact, most love seeing photographs of themselves playing on a greeting card! That is, until some ‘friend’ rushes over, card in hand, to tell them they should complain. Suddenly the subject is no longer seeing their ability to make others smile as a gift, and instead feels they are owed something for being the joke. ‘Someone else thinks they are an asshole, and they stop feeling the joy’ says Kat. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen often. "For every one who make noise, 10 more love it."

But what does happen when these few unhappy people come forward? Caverly turns them over to her attorney . (Remember, she ran over with that piece of paper for you to sign?) She always gets an intellectual property release ‘in perpetuity’ signed, so legally there is no problem.

But it still bothers Caverly. She is sensitive to the criticism, but it is clear from how she talks that she is not just worried about having her work seen in a negative light. She is hurt that someone who had had so much fun & was enjoying their own ability to be foolish, now just feels like a fool.

"There have been many days when I decided I would quit. Just stop. But as I turned around, there was this perfect opportunity, and I dashed over to start it all again." After all, she is Kat Caverly, Photocartoonist. This is not only what ‘she does‘ but her passion.

But what is a Photocartoonist?

"I make fun of people" is the simple answer Caverly gives to most people. It is really too simple an answer. However, if you prompt Caverly for a little more, she will give a great giggle & a lot more information. Delighted at the chance to talk more about her work, and being as gregarious as they come, she gives me more information than I can jot down.

Basically, the name ’photocartoonist’ was given to her as her photography sort of defies traditional categorization. When viewing her portfolio, ad agencies stated her work was not for advertising, to try magazines. Magazines felt it not editorial, but photo-journalism. The newspapers saw her work as commercial... And so it went. In order to make the most of the uniqueness of her photos, she now uses the coined ‘photocartoonist’ to brand her work.

How did her photographs come to be so unique?

As a child she was continually photographed by her amateur photographer Father. She names him as her early inspiration. She also fondly remembers her Grandfather’s gift of gab -- ‘He could have a joyous conversation with a rock!‘ As she was often in Grandfather‘s tow, this is surely where she learned how to disarm her subjects with her gush of warm, infectious conversation!

Caverly gives her background in behavioral psychology credit for creating what she does. "Originally I studied to understand what makes people tick, and to control them. Now my work is an exploration in human good nature."

But, if behavioral psychology is behind ‘what she sees,’ then her 27 years experience working with chemical/optical photography must be credited with ‘how she gets it.’

Specifically noteworthy:

* Eight years as an apprentice in commercial & fashion photography taught her how to completely pose & contrive a photograph. (This is also where she first began to build her humor skills to loosen up anxious models/actors with her ‘silly face’ gambit.)

* One year working in a color lab printing film gave her an eye for how a snap-shot looks. So even though her photos are completely set-up, they have the feel of a snap-shot.

Her subjects:

"I can stand on any street corner in mid-town Manhattan and have 20 people come to me" says Kat. She may start out the day with a theme, for example the ’Pick Your Nose’ series, but sometimes, she just sees something, and seizes the opportunity.

She prefers working with folks on the street,. The spontaneous ‘meet on the street’ is more conducive to play than an appointment to show up at a studio. She works with children & animals, but finds it much more difficult as communication is so crucial to setting up the shot.

However, one of her favorite photos is of Buster, her cat. Perhaps it was the glory in finally getting a great shot. After Buster destroyed the set by spilling bubbles, thrashing with decorations & scratching her husband’s arms as he tried to hold Buster in place, Buster finally turned & looked right at Kat. It truly is a photo that could not have been achieved with Kat setting it up -- this creativity was all Buster. Or maybe, she loves the photograph because she loves telling the story... Did I mention, she loves to talk?

Kat also does self-portraits. ‘I am my favorite subject!’ she coos, but clarifies that this comment comes from her alter-ego, ‘Shirley.’ (Shirley’s pics are my favorites too!) Now her husband, Thomas Hudson Reeve, does most of the photos of her.

"The ability to make a fool of yourself in front of others releases you" says Caverly.

And I can’t think of a more fitting way to finish the interview.

Article by Pop_Tart