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What’s In Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting creatives about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz ketchup in their custom-made Big Chill Retropolitan 20.6-cubic-foot refrigerators.
I’m Kitty and I chase Sailors! I’m a Vancouver-based photographer and I‘ve spent the last 15 years engaged in an immersive documentary photography project travelling across North America photographing Sailors, from the back rooms of dive bars to weeks out at sea.
I’ve always been fascinated by Sailors—the white bell-bottoms, iconic and steeped in tradition, like background players from a vintage film suddenly stepping into real life. With their neckerchiefs and Dixie cups, they feel like a camp throwback, part cartoon, part musical, performing on the streets of my favourite cities.
As I photograph Sailors at work, at play, and in the emotional moments of homecoming after months at sea, I reveal the personalities behind the uniforms—people often reduced to numbers in a system shaped by far-removed decision-makers, now more than ever. These are dynamic, uninhibited characters who work hard and play even harder. Nostalgia, cliché, and humour guide the viewer through my adventures.
Sailor Trouble, New York NY, May 2019. Kathryn Mussallem.
As a Canadian, I’ve always been drawn to the hyperbolic patriotism of America, the kitsch, the excess of flags, and the spectacle of uniformed military. I move between extremes, from being the only woman on the flight deck of a navy ship to the charged atmosphere of shore leave. I jump into the fray, bright red lipstick on and bright red high heels hitting the pavement, and with giddy excitement I ask, “Hey Sailor! New in town?”
I’m shipping out for Italy where I’m exhibiting Hey Sailor! New in Town? in Venice as part of the European Cultural Centre Italy’s Personal Structures – Confluences, a seven-month exhibition running in parallel with the Venice Biennale.
Neil Diamond at the Pacific Coliseum in 1985. It was fantastic and I was hooked (on live music and Mr. Diamond). It was the height of his showbiz sequinned era. He changed his sequinned shirt at least five times. So sparkly. I’ve seen him 11 times now. After a Vancouver show, my mom and I would drive down to Seattle to see him perform again the following night.
Kathryn Mussallem.
Here’s my 1985 ticket stub comparing it to the last time Neil Diamond will ever come to Vancouver—or tour anywhere. Notice the insane price difference. I’m surprised he could afford so many sequined shirts at those 1985 ticket prices.
Depeche Mode World Violation Tour at the Pacific Coliseum 1990. Nitzer Ebb opened and it was so insanely loud and pounding my mom and I thought we were going to have heart attacks. The second the lights went out I jumped over the barrier and rushed the stage (I miss those days; I still sneak down to the floor but with other methods as a responsible adult). Dave Gahan slithered and writhed his way into my life, and I did not look back. I’ve also seen Depeche Mode at least 11 times, all over the world and here in Vancouver and Seattle the next day.
My mom brought me to Neil Diamond at 10 years old and I brought her to my first Depeche Mode concert. It’s still her favourite band and for her 80th birthday in 2023 I bought her tickets to the Memento Mori tour at Rogers and it was phenomenal. David Gahan is still a sexy beast.
Sailors With a Friend, New York NY, May 2019 Kathryn Mussallem:
Depeche Mode Violator This album is flawless. Every single song is perfection and Anton Corbijn’s videos in Strange Too are just as iconic. A beautiful concept album that’s still inconstant rotation.
Various Artists Cabaret (One of my earliest memories is putting this original 1972 soundtrack, on vinyl, on the record player in our basement, placing a bowler hat on my head, donning my mom’s black workout bodysuit (that she used to wear to exercise to her Jane Fonda workout videos), a pair of fishnets, and my high-heel tap shoes performing as if I was Liza Minnelli with high kicks over a French café chair. I was eight years old. The songs from Cabaret are still my go-to karaoke numbers. Coming soon to a Legion near you.
New Order Substance Perfection. I still remember the feeling at the Luv-A-Fair when that first drumbeat dropped in “Blue Monday” and people would race to the dance floor. Spotify likes to remind me every year that I’m one of the top New Order Fans in the world. I do not believe them, but it is nice to be recognized.
Video of Pulp – This Is Hardcore (Adult Version)
Pulp, This is Hardcore One of my favourite Pulp songs from my favourite Pulp album. The aesthetic is a hyper-colour film noir, a saturated mid-century modern journey into film and photographic history. It’s the vintage retro cliché world I photograph with my Sailors, red lipstick and all.
Cher “If I Could Turn Back Time” Just this moment, I realized which video was the most influential on my life. I guess since 1989 I really wanted to be Cher on the deck of the Battleship USS Missouri, surrounded by hundreds of cheering Sailors.
Kerrygold Irish Butter: This is very specific. This sexy, salty Irish butter has been my one true love since I lived in Ireland at 18, travelling back and forth and always returning with treasured golden bricks. Then I discovered you could buy it in the UK.
My mom was a flight attendant and would come home with several luxurious bricks of joy. In my 20s, living in London, I only allowed Kerrygold in the fridge. Back in Vancouver, I continued returning from the UK with my buttery friends. About a decade ago, I found it at Trader Joe’s, just a quick jaunt to Bellingham. Then the pandemic hit, and the border closed. I spent months trying to find a Canadian substitute. Every option was sad.
Hawaiian coconut peanut butter: Yet another delicious thing to spread on toast. I became addicted to it while photographing Sailors in Hawaii. I order this online and it is glorious.
Passion fruits: An addiction I picked up in Australia as a child. I had never tasted anything like them. As an adult when I travelled abroad, I would see them in the regular grocery store like they were nothing special. Then I’d return to Vancouver and have to take out a bank loan to procure one.
They are a bit more common here now, they even grow them in California, so they’re not as rare but still precious. Since I’m just about to leave for Venice for the opening of the exhibition, my fridge is looking a little empty but there are still a few fresh passion fruits left for me to enjoy.
Kathryn Mussallem is a Vancouver-based photographer, instructor, and Sailor chaser. Her exhibit, ‘Hey Sailor! New in Town?‘ will be shown in Venice as part of the European Cultural Centre Italy’s Personal Structures, running in parallel to the Venice Biennale. Find her on Instagram at @thealmightyqueen.
Video of Cher – If I Could Turn Back Time (Official Video)