«At first glance Caulton Morris’s photos in his Upside series look like a gimmick. Headstands are the new selfies. And there’s a certain amount of truth to that. But his reasons for making the photos make them more than just a silly photo project.
In one photo, Morris is standing on his head in an office chair on a desk, and next to the chair is a laptop with an iconic image of Steve Jobs on the screen. It was taken right after Steve Jobs’ death and Morris says his posture with arms outstretched is supposed to represent an upside-down crucifix. He sees it as an indictment of unnecessary hero worship that was taken to a new level after the Apple CEO passed away.
“All the press had turned him into a messiah; he was like the savior of the world,” Morris says. “I wanted to put a spin on that. I think partly because I have an issue with celebrity.”
The photos without any context oscillate between dumb and brilliant – between borderline MFA assignment and poignant critique – but we like Morris’ “take no prisoners” attitude. We wanted to hate it, but ended up loving it. They’ve got that X-factor for us that pushes their commentary from corny to art.
In Waterboarding, Morris is standing on his head in a bathtub filled with water. In another, his head is submerged in a toilet and he’s reading a glossy magazine. (There’s actually a bag on his head protecting his hair.) That one’s titled What Goes In, Must Come Out – an attack on what he calls the “poisonous nature in a lot of media” and the way it “manipulates people’s self image.”
“There is that age-old saying that the camera never lies, but the camera always lies and the magazines are proof of that,” he says in reference to the retouching and Photoshop manipulation that are well-documented in the fashion magazine industry.
Most people think his photos are also digitally manipulated but he says all but one on his website are straight out of the camera. The way he gets that awkward pose is by setting the self timer, running over to his chosen spot, getting up on his head and hands and then picking his hands up just before the camera fires. The reason he looks like he’s about to fall over is because he is. The camera captures the instance right before he bites it. Nothing like suffering for one’s art to give it a touch of authenticity.
The headstand is fairly easy to pull off in the grass, but over time Morris has challenged himself to try the stunt in some increasingly challenging locations. In England, where he’s from, he nearly broke his neck trying to get the picture in front of a group of pigs battling it out for some freshly poured slop.
In Canada his girlfriend had to get underwater to steady the kayak out of which he precariously protrudes in the photo Life On The Other Side. A friend offshore actually pulled the shutter on that one.
His decision to not use Photoshop as a way to increase the absurdity of the photos comes not only from his disgust with the fashion industry but also from a deep belief that a little struggle enhances the experience. He says he’s played around with Photoshop and finds that it takes the fun out of the stunts. He enjoys the challenge of figuring out how to make it work and fears that digital manipulation can be a slippery slope.
“I think life needs some kind of framework in which we can play and explore and as soon as you remove all the framework, to me life becomes a little bit … pointless, less enjoyable,” he says.»
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