I love old clothes. For me, there is rarely a reason to throw them in the recycle until they literally fall off your body. Just before a piece of old clothing reaches that point, it reaches its pinnacle of goodness. This is the time in its life when it is so well worn, so well loved and has served you so well that the thought of being without it is incomprehensible. Our clothes speak more about us than we can often talk about ourselves.
For years I’ve had the idea to frame certain articles of clothing when they reach this point. The idea first came to me when I had to farewell a pair of cut off shorts that I travelled the world in. Those shorts saw more places than most people have the opportunity to dream of. I wanted them to stay with me forever. Unfortunately I took them for repair one day in South Africa and the lovely woman that was working the sewing machine took one look at them and said “Eish, my friend, these shorts are vrot (rotten)” as she tossed them into the rag heap.
Fast forward to a time in my life when I was working as a photographer and the local Patagonia store took me on as brand ambassador of sorts. They kitted me out with clothing which is still kicking-on over a decade later. This t-shirt was the first item they provided me. It meant a lot. It showed that my values of photography, travelling and capturing epic and often remote locations around the world, were aligned with theirs, and I wore this t-shirt with pride.
A few months back my partner mentioned that it was probably time this t-shirt retired. My response was that it was “just starting to come right”. I love the holes, the stains, the frayed threads. I told her I was going to frame it—this was not met with the enthusiasm I was hoping for. Instead, I got the largest piece of paper I have ever worked on, 1.5m x 1.0m, and set about drawing this part of my life in as much detail as possible. This drawing is the result. I hope you like it as I am pretty keen to keep telling peoples stories this way, through their favourite, worn out, but forever loved, clothing…
If anyone is interested in hanging this drawing on their wall, get in touch, it will be for sale soon…
Enjoy your day,
Joel Coleman…
tom-paul jagg
Posted at 08:22h, 17 FebruaryOHHH, Joel, so now you’re one with the pencil! Pencils and charcoal are amazing to work with.
This work is fantastic. I started with pencils about 100 yrs ago so I relate to your enthusiasm. Its great
seeing someone always learning and diving into the abyss to search new passions in Life.