GREATEST: Kenneth Cappello

In 1994. The December before, I drove to New York in my Honda Civic. It got broken into on Bowery. But I love New York so much. We were drinking beers—we were like 17. I thought it was the coolest thing. 

I had one friend from Texas living in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and I was like, ‘Can I stay on your couch for a few weeks until I figure this out?’ So I stayed. I couch-surfed. I actually slept in Tompkins Square Park a few nights and I kind of just figured it out. But I moved there in ’94 and it was the best time ever. I was way into music. 

I was going to all kinds of shows. Man, in ’94, I was going to hardcore shows, going to riot grrrl shows. I saw Bikini Kill at CBGB’s, Huggy Bear at Brownies. Then, you know, going to a lot of rap shows, too: Wu-Tang, shit, Bobby Digital. 

I was so into music back then—that’s what I thought I was going to do. Before I became a photographer, I tour managed the Unsane before I started working with David [LaChapelle]. But it was just about, like, going out and seeing bands, man, you know? And then you realize New York is made to fucking party, nonstop partying and shit. If I wouldn’t have left Texas…it would be a different story. 

I was in the East Village working at Beauty Bar and these dudes would always come in, and I asked, ‘What do you guys do for a living?’ And they said, ‘We build sets for photographers.’ And I was like, ‘How much money you guys make?’ ‘One hundred and fifty bucks a day.’ 

I wasn’t a master carpenter, but I could use a drill. And, like, two months later I got a call and the photographer was David LaChapelle. And I ended up working for him. I was the art director’s assistant for three and a half, four years. 

But I would have never got into photography or understood free thinking if I never stepped on a Variflex skateboard in 1986. Because that skateboard led me to getting another skateboard and going to the skate shop, and in that skate shop there were these dirty punk rockers and they were always listening to really insane music. I started going to skate ramps and helping them spray paint, and then the next thing I know, I’m a punk rocker going to punk shows. Which led me to be like, ‘Fuck this shit, I’m out of here.’ 

I still call myself a skater even though I haven’t stood on a skateboard in…but at heart. Thrasher magazine is my favorite magazine ever. It’s still my favorite magazine ever. It shaped my childhood; it shaped everything about me. I remember reading a Mark Gonzales interview in ’87, and I remember copying what he was writing on his grip tape, and wrote all over my shoes and cut my high-tops into low-tops. Fast-forward 15 years of hanging out with Mark in New York.  It’s Notes from the Underground. It’s the first thing I go to in Thrasher, the music section. 

The point is, if I never stepped on the skateboard that my mom bought me at Walmart with the nose guard, it would all be a different story. I’d either be a total fuck up or I would have four kids with a Titleist visor. It never left me. 

I have people look at me and ask, ‘How do you look like you haven’t aged?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, I’ve aged.’ But I never grew up. I’m fucking an adult, and I don’t feel like an adult. Every day I think, ‘When am I going to grow up?’ And I’m not. I got out. I’m just doing what I want to do. 

Photo style? I don’t know if you could look at my photo and go, ‘That’s me.’ When I moved to New York and started getting into photography, I worked for David, so that should be my example, but I was drawn towards the rawer shit: Juergen [Teller], Terry [Richardson], Wolfgang Tillmans. 

And then, it was probably 1998, I saw a Marc Jacobs campaign that Juergen Teller shot on a Polaroid Spectra. Right when I saw that, I was like, ‘Okay, there’s no rules. I get it. I can do whatever I want.’ I think it was Sofia Coppola or somebody as the model—it still stands out in my mind. At that point, me and Ryan McGinley used to hang out at Cherry Tavern, photographers would hang out there. He wasn’t a photographer yet. 

My style is influenced by the streets of New York and the photographers I knew around. Back then, I was just experimenting. Then you kind of find your groove and find what makes sense for your photos. I looked at a lot of old books. Also the light is different here—I didn’t love the light in New York. So I started shooting outside more and it’s also nice out. You’re influenced by your surroundings and by music. 

FIGHTING WORDS 

I was angry. I was really pissed off. I’m a pretty aggro, intense person sometimes. 

New York—I was feeling it. I wasn’t getting as fucked up anymore. People were walking too close to me. I was just feeling like the city’s collapsing on me and all my friends were still going out hard, hard, and I was like, yo. I got a personal trainer. I had never worked out in my life. 

I was into MMA for many years, like everyone was—early UFC, but I was really into it. I was really fed up with partying, and I don’t know what got me into working out but there was something because I went and bought a pair of dumbbells and brought them into my office on West Broadway and Canal. 

I took kickboxing early in New York, ’96. Gavin [Van Vlack] who used to be in Burn was my teacher, and it didn’t stick. I wanted to stop partying. I wanted to get in shape. I was doing Krav Maga and then I did some jiu-jitsu with James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem. I got really into CrossFit for six years hardcore. And then I met my teacher. We made a dojo in my garage here. I started training with a lot of pro fighters. I still think about fighting every day. 

I think hand-to-hand combat is a beautiful thing because you have to protect yourself, and a lot of people don’t know how to. Growing up in a small town, I got into fights every fucking week defending myself, probably to get away from some dude. Eventually you just have to fight. 

But I’m not a tough dude. I don’t want to fight anyone. But I am a dude, unfortunately, that runs into fires. Like if I see someone getting bullied or unfairly beaten up, I go. It’s bad. Some people run away when shit pops, I kinda go towards it. 

In the end, I’m a dude from Texas. I know sports, I can go into a death metal bar and talk about this bullshit. I can sit at a bar at an airport and talk to someone about the football draft. I can kind of roll into any scenario and make someone feel comfortable. And I think some people that are only into certain things can’t do that, right? 

I sell sneakers for a living. I sell a lot of sneakers, and I’m not even a sneakerhead. I shoot mad campaigns. 

100%. It sounds like it’s difficult, because I’ll get a reference from an art director who’s like, ‘Match this.’ I can’t match that. I need $7,000 more and a gaffer. 

When I work with an athlete it’s a little different because I’ve got 13 minutes to shoot XYZ person. I know a lot about music. I’m into shooting aggressive men. I liked shooting fighters, like shooting football players. I like shooting bravado. I know a lot of dudes just want to shoot hot chicks—that’s cool, but I like shooting alpha men. 

That cat got eaten by a coyote. Vlad was at that shoot. He probably doesn’t realize he was there. 

I was hardcore darkwave trip for a long time recently. I’ve been putting on this Green Day record every day, I’ve been putting on Kerplunk every morning. It’s crazy. 

So Kerplunk must be 27. I’ll be honest, I haven’t listened to hip-hop right now because I just can’t. And I love hip-hop. Public Enemy blew my mind, when I heard a Slayer sample on a rap record. The Beastie Boys did it, too. 

The House of Pain song is amazing. The Sonic Youth one is pretty cool. But that was back then when it was special. I’m not really into now to be honest. There’s no subculture. When I was a kid, you had your subculture. You had your thing and you were bummed out when someone found out about it. And now everything is just blown out from the get-go. 

I went to the second one. I loved that show, but Jawbreaker is a top-five band for me. Ever. I had a blast. 

Also I think Life Is Peachy by Korn is an incredible record. It’s so heavy and it’s so emotional. I don’t know when I heard that, but when it came out, I remember thinking I wasn’t supposed to like Korn. Even now, I’m not supposed to like Korn, but when y’all did that Korn [collaboration] shit, I was like, I want some of that Korn shit. 

They’ve also, like, sniffed cocaine off every and any woman. That era was wild. Munky was always the dope one to me because he just had these long dreads. 

I was into it. I went to this weird PC riot grrrl show, and this kid was like, ‘You heard this band Korn?’ And I was like nah, and he gave me that first record on tape. 

It’s just the day and age we’re living in. You gotta either play the game or not. 

You’re going to land on my page, you’re going to be like either I’ve heard of this photographer or I haven’t and either I like his photos or I don’t. It’s for work and that’s why I have it. 

The social media thing is a hard one to swallow. Adults are fucking talking about, ‘You didn’t like my photo.’ You’re an adult. You’re talking about someone unfollowing you. Who gives a fuck? 

Like I said before, I’m just not into now. Even with you guys, I love what you guys do, but sometimes I’m like, ‘Damn, they’re giving the sauce away.’ You’re giving the kids the coolness. 

No, I get it. It’s like the kid who gave me the [Korn] tape. Because everything y’all do is the shit I’m into because it’s the same references. 

Do something else. 

I mean, look, I love photography. If you love photography, you should take photos. 

Talking about subcultures, it’s different now. Digital has really made it really accessible for people and it’s great. Everyone takes photos every day. People don’t think about this, but photography is more popular right now than it’s ever been in the world because everyone has an amazing camera on a thing they have in their pockets. I love the fact that everyone’s taking photos. That’s fucking awesome. 

But it’s the Wild West out here in this photo land. Man, like shit’s changed, man. 

There’s always trends. All of these hipster kids only shoot film and it’s so funny ’cause now I got rappers like, ‘You’re going to shoot digital?’ I hope these kids only keep shooting film because I’m going to take their job. I’ll get a job and ask, ‘Who was up for this?’ And I hear they refused to shoot digital. 

I like photos out of iPhones, out of film cameras, out of digital cameras. I like fucking photo. It’s all the same shit. Different mediums. I don’t give a fuck if it’s off the fucking passport photo when you get off the airplane. I like Polaroids. I like photos. I don’t care what it’s shot on. I choose to shoot on what I’m going to shoot on when I shoot it. 

I think kids should take photos and try it, man. Like, it’s cool, but I don’t think it’s easy. It’s not easy, man.