My first book, What We Keep will be published on May 14 (available now for preorder). I can hardly wait for you all to see it. In the meantime, I'm so thrilled to share some behind the scenes content with you here. Excerpts, b-roll images, video clips from my interviews with contributors, will hopefully give you a sense of what went into writing, styling and photographing this book, as well as a little peek into its pages.
My professional path has always been informed closely by my personal passions, so I called upon my Taiwanese heritage to structure the book in five sections, each named after one of the Traditional Chinese elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Much like the elements, the sections of the book are distinct in style and sentiment, yet deepened by their kinship to one another. Here is a preview and behind the scenes look at Section 1: Wood.
Order what we keep
Photographing Nakashima Woodworkers
It's hard to put into words the magic that is the Nakashima Woodworkers campus. Brooke, Dan (our trusty production coordinator) and I were blown away by the beauty of the landscape, the history of the architecture and the Nakashima team's hospitality. I'm so proud of the images we captured here and so excited for you to read the words that Mira Nakashima shared with me.
From Section 1: Wood
Before I ever saw their apartment, I asked Adam and Martin if they collected anything, and they looked at each other sheepishly, explaining they had a lot of stuff but weren’t collectors. Then Adam nodded at Martin and said, “Boxes.” Both looked at their toes, as if they were embarrassed to call it a collection, or that the collecting had been unintentional, that one morning they had simply awakened to a pile of boxes. But in fact, the collection of boxes that Martin and Adam share—mainly wood, varying in shape, displayed and stacked with care— is thoughtful and considered.
“The boxes are Martin’s thing,” Adam declares boldly; then he pauses and redacts. “Well, conceptually they connect to both of us.” He continues to reflect on the collection in a stream-of-consciousness way:
“There is never anything in them.
“The boxes are all empty.
“They represent utility.
“Or the beauty in a lack of utility.
“Or the option for utility.
“We could put something in them. The option is there.
“They represent potential.”
Proem Studio
We had the honor of shooting the home of Proem Studio founder Marie Trohman in Los Angeles for What We Keep. Some of my favorite shots in the book came from this project not just because the home was beautifully designed, but also because it was this Spanish style colonial architecture that is special to Southern California. Marie's design sense was matched only by her amazing art collection. As is the nature of editing, not all of the pictures made it into the final book, but I loved them all and wanted to share them here.
Scouting the cover shot
Brooke caught this shot of me snapping what was eventually going to become our cover image. It's in a bathroom! Architect Brent Buck's bathroom to be specific. Brent is an avid collector of many things, but most notably, he owns every Dansk pepper mill that was ever put into production.
BFFs
Not only was I able to shoot this book with one of my favorite people, Brooke Holm, I also was able to profile and include so many of my best friends within its pages. I interviewed them and asked them questions I thought I knew the answers to, but quickly discovered that they had so much to share beyond what I already knew. It's one of the many unexpected joys of writing this book: rediscovering my friends and falling in love all over again.
