From the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseleil-Waututh nations, Cole (he/they)
is a Queer documentarian who is cut from and dressed in their drag community.
It was within months of Cole's first login to Facebook, in 2007, that he received a small
digital point-and-shoot camera. With no direction as to how to use it, the camera became a vehicle
for laughs as they and their brothers experimented with recording their images and presenting it to a new online public.
By 2018, Cole cracked the shell of professionalism when he was hired to take portraits of an
audacious collection of drag performers at the landmark East Van Commercial Drag. A gifted
Canon Powershot during university, then a gifted Sony NEX 5N from Max in 2014, which was augmented
by a gifted long lens from their brother Zach in 2018, and then carried to his first drag show on the
invitation of Bo Dyp later that year, all prepared Cole for a practice with serious personal investment.
Given all this gifted input, community is an essential part of Cole's trajectory. The community has long
furnished him with subjects, and is now the medium of his professional goals. His practice is just as much
providing this aesthetically potent community with records as it is showing this community his vision.
Cole's style was cultivated on scene, in nightlife. Stage lights are a part of his tool kit and offer him
inspiration. His results are low-key, seeing robust shadow working
with colourful highlights. The candid nature of recording live action allows Cole to capture genuine subjects
who are emersed in a performance. Now he is building a portraiture practice that allows him and his subjects to
intentionally leverage their styles before they get to the stage.
With his experience exhibiting at UBC's Hatch Gallery in March 2019, and at two co-directed Queer Spectacles,
Cole sees more exhibition work in their future. They also plan to process and distribute more of their work
on and in print, as they have a stirring interest in documenting their community's history.
He names Ray McEachern, Sean Alistair, and Alexey Kim of
@sidewalkkilla as direct inspiration to his work. If you wish to engage in Cole's community, email them at coleschmidt01@live.com
or find them on their instagram @coleschmidt.
