At the beginning of 2018, an anonymous Instagram account began documenting scenes from inside the College. Drawn to the more out-of-the-ordinary looks, That’s so CSM shared photographs with affection and tongue, firmly, in cheek. Now, with over 18,000 followers and an exhibition project curtailed by Coronavirus, we speak to the person behind the candid camera.
How, and more importantly, why did you start That’s so CSM?
"I had always thought that Central Saint Martins was super cool – all about creativity and fashion. And then I came here and it was exactly that but crazier! I don’t come from an art background so it was eye-opening to see people expressing themselves in all these ways.
I’m not from London so the account began as way for me to share with my friends and family at home what was going on where I was. Then it got bigger and bigger."
It has a playful, almost mischievous tone. Where did that come from?
"It’s because I sit somewhere between people from the outside looking in and thinking 'they’re crazy and outlandish over there' and then the inside thinking 'we’re not that crazy'. Like an anthropologist, you are part of what you’re looking at but then you can’t be entirely because you have to remain objective for your research. It’s a bit like that. I feel very much part of Central Saint Martins but there’s some level of practice, creativity and craziness that I’ll never reach."
And why are you anonymous?
"The more it grew the more I knew it should be anonymous. It gives me a distance and helps me to be more creative. It offers me freedom to think and explore."
Sometimes you’re capturing imagery as part of a creative performance and sometimes it’s candid photography of people going about their ordinary day. Is there a difference?
"I think there’s an element of performance in everything, it is human. Perhaps it’s more honest to show how crazy you feel than trying to be a super-perfect guy? More honest to say, 'I don’t know who I am right now, but I’m figuring it out'. So it’s both performance and soul searching at the same time."
Across that breadth of what you’ve shared, can you define what is “so CSM”?
"I read somewhere that Central Saint Martins was 'a beautiful mess'. It’s true. People have passion, joy, sadness, fun, the urge to endlessly create and express themselves. You can’t write it down in a dictionary but if you see it, you know it."
In 2019 you collaborated with MA Contemporary Photography student Bálint Alovits and took portraits of over 300 students and staff. How did that come about?
"Bálint knew who I was and approached me. He liked that I had this curiosity for the people in our community. That was the starting point. I still kept doing my candid shots but we set up a booth and invited people to have their portraits taken.
We were planning an exhibition and book. But now in the lockdown that exhibition has been postponed, so, we realised that we should share the portraits to help reflect our College community during isolation."
The portrait project and your Instagram account are very different.
"Yes, my account is about the looks, it’s absurd and interesting. But these photographs are about people. You look each person in the eyes.
When I have hundreds of the portraits open on my computer, it’s not the outfits but the person… and there’s another person… and another person. After a while you see just the human-ness of people. Maybe there’s a masquerade to life but, here, everyone is looking at the camera. Everyone is sharing their own downfalls, their happiness, their joy, their stories."
