We created the Isolation Diaries over four months ago, as a way to keep motivated and inspired during our lockdown. After a whopping 23 volumes, we’ve teamed up for a content collaboration with LA-based architects LOHA to bring you a special global perspective, where we take a look at what people are reading, watching, making and listening to—across continents. Our special guest this week is Photographer Scottie Cameron.
This week, we’re reading X-Ray Architecture, an exploration of theory around architecture and medical imaging and where the two are related. Feeling like you need to be reminded of some Reasons to be Cheerful today? Look no further, because not only is there an editorial site for that, but Gemma Correll also has a delightful web comic that includes a pug-based meditation guide.
We’ve become very acquainted with digital life, which has inspired us to revisit Marshall McLuhan’s Medium is the Message documentary. Plywood is a sandwich. A delicious wood sandwich. Or so Tom Sachs tells us in his how-to video which takes the form of a love letter to this durable, flexible building material. In Nuke With Me, Marlon Webb stretches the microwave to the limits of its creative potential.
Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, we’re making the ultimate twice-cooked fries. Gabriela Cámera leads us in a masterclass on Tacos al Pastor, a delicious bite of sweet, sour, spicy and fresh all at once. Almost as good as a trip to Mexico City. ‘Build using the resources in your situation to solve your problem’ is something we can get behind. Tom Sachs inspires us to be hands-on.
An alternate soundtrack to a 1969 avant-garde film, Nicolás Jaar’s Pomegranates is both unusual and lovely on the ears. Frank Ocean’s In My Room might just be a pretty solid choice of anthem for 2020. But as the sun made its return to Melbourne, the Sundays have seen us enjoying 6 hours of non-stop funk, soul and disco on our verandahs, yards, porches, or balconies from noon.
He’s a globe-travelling photographer and director with an eye for unique compositions… Not to mention a great sense of humour. We chat with LA-based photographer Scottie Cameron about work, priorities, isolation life, and The Tour de France.
What is the current view from your home office?
Enjoy...
What are you currently working on?
A short film, and trying to hit my driver straight.
How do you structure your day?
Kinda sorta like this:
What was the last thing you bookmarked or saved?
This feature in Smithsonian Magazine about Ricky Jackson, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 39 years.
What are you looking forward to?
Making my short film, and this final week of The Tour de France.
What will you take away from Isolation?
Realizing how fragile our so-called system is, and putting into perspective how irrelevant some things are before it all broke down. It’s great social media influencers have been eradicated!
(Note—they’ve almost been eradicated, Scottie. Almost.)