ACTING ON CURIOSITY WITH ANXIETY AND PLEASURE

Photographs by Joal Caldera

South Florida, USA

Living in South Florida, photographer Joal Caldera is accustomed to many different types of characters: “South Florida as a whole is an interesting place, some people hate it and some love it,” he discloses, commenting on where he grew up. “It’s a retirement village, cultural hotbed, and a drug den all in one. You can be in an upscale plaza buying groceries, or copping a dub behind the hook; you can be on your way to a bar, concert, or your homies art show in less than 20 minute drive. It’s home for me.”

Being around such an array of characters helped foster Joal’s impulse to get into photography. “I’ve always been a curious person and interested in the world around me and the people in it,” says Joal, explaining why he shoots, “(photography) is just a means to act on that curiosity.”

The characters he is the most curious about are the ones he doesn’t personally know. “A large majority of my subjects are strangers,“ he explains, “However, a lot of my subjects started out as strangers and gradually became friends of mine. They’re average joes, hardworking people, lovers in the making, 20 something’s working a job trying to figure it the fuck out, artists, cops, etc.”

Photographing strangers isn’t the easiest thing to do because you don’t know how they will react. Joal understands this but that uncertainity makes it that more thrilling. “Although at first it was a nice feeling to get up close and photograph a stranger, it’s an odd mix of anxiety and pleasure in the confrontation even if it’s only for a moment.” That mix of anxiety and pleasure is the perfect cocktail for his candid imagery and has become part of the process, “I find that split second rush has just become a part of how I operate.”

Joal’s favorite recent image of a stranger is one he calls “Miss Smiling Taxi Woman”, an image he took on a trip to Japan: “I spent a week and change in Japan over the summer and it was my first night there. I was there alone but luckily for the first two days a few buddies of mine in the Navy took leave for to show me the ropes and party the jet lag out of me. I hadn’t been there for more than a few hours and we were walking to the train station when I saw the cab coming, so I ran into the road got as close as I can and snapped the photo. She laughed, the cab driver gave me the ‘fucking foreigners’ scowl and that was that. When I got my negatives back I felt like a little kid stealing his first beer from the fridge, everything came together perfectly and I’ll never see her again to thank her for being a good sport.”