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Douglas Friedman - Discovering The Gene Through A Collection Of Work
1.2k Plays4 months ago
Today I’m sitting down with Douglas Friedman, to discuss the commonalities between a collector and one of the most sought after photographers in the residential architecture space. His name commonly shows up on Architectural Digest’s top articles and there’s a good reason for it. Friedman always used his gut instinct, whether it was studying anthropology or discovering Marfa, Texas as a place to call home. But I wanted to know how he thinks about creating a story from the photographs he chooses to use from a shoot, and how he preserves moments in time through his work, much like us collectors do respectively. At the end of the day, Douglas wasn’t sure whether he was a collector or not but I think we worked that out. So without further adieu, this is Douglas Friedman, for Collectors Gene Radio.
Douglas's Website - https://www.douglasfriedman.net/
Douglas's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/douglasfriedman/?hl=en
Douglas's Latest Work - https://www.architecturaldigest.com/contributor/douglas-friedman
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Transcript
An Evening with Martha Stewart
00:00:00
Speaker
Can I say like up at Martha Stewart's house in Maine, up at Skylands, I spent like an evening with Martha in the butler's pantry this past Memorial Day. We were making martinis.
00:00:14
Speaker
And you know the home used to belong to Edsel Ford. And when she bought it, it came with everything Edsel Ford had in that house, he and Mrs. Ford. And the butler's pantry is this incredible wood paneled room with dozens and dozens and dozens of cabinets and drawers. And ah we just were she was like, what should we put these martinis in? And you're just opening cabinets and finding Mrs. Ford's like crystal collection. and There's like 12 different types of martini glasses.
Introduction to Collecting and Guest Douglas Friedman
00:00:40
Speaker
What's going on everybody and welcome to collector's gene radio. This is all about diving into the nuances of collecting and ultimately finding out whether or not our guests have what we like to call the collector's gene. If you have the time, please subscribe and leave a review. It truly helps. Thanks a bunch for listening and please enjoy today's guest on collector's gene radio.
00:01:04
Speaker
Today I'm sitting down with Douglas Friedman to discuss the commonalities between one of the most sought after photographers in the residential space and a collector. His name commonly shows up on Architectural Digest's top articles, and there's a good reason for it. See, Friedman's always used this gut instinct, whether it was studying anthropology or discovering Marfa, Texas as a place to call home.
00:01:26
Speaker
But I wanted to know how he thinks about creating a story from the photographs he chooses to use from a shoot and how he preserves moments in time through his work, much like us collectors do, respectively.
From Anthropology to Photography
00:01:37
Speaker
At the end of the day, Douglas wasn't sure whether he was a collector or not, but I think we worked that out. So without further ado, this is Douglas Friedman for Collectors Gene Radio.
00:01:47
Speaker
Douglas Friedman, such a pleasure to have you on collector's dream radio today. Hi, it's it's um it's really nice to be here. So you studied anthropology and I would love to know what role that has played in the success that you've had as a photographer.
00:02:04
Speaker
you know I'm glad you're asking that question because I remember my parents being like, why are you studying anthropology? What use will that have? And they were kind of right because I was like, what use will this have for me? But you know I just remember I was in college and i didn't I didn't know what major to pick, so I kind of majored in a field that like my good friends were also majoring in. short And plus like my but my best friend would drive me home from school. He was also in the same class schedule I was on, so it made sense. But I have to say, I think anthropology, sociology, I think learning how to, training my mind in college, how to kind of sit back and observe, which is what you do.
00:02:53
Speaker
has served me really, really well as a photographer documenting you know people's homes, the way people live, the way people go through their day.
Diverse Photography Career and Upcoming Projects
00:03:03
Speaker
So I'm able to do that. So I think it actually it was it was a great it was a great choice in hindsight. Yeah, no doubt. And you've done it everything from assistant directing on films and shooting fashion and portraiture to becoming one of the most sought after and well-known photographers in architecture and design. I mean, you shot for Architectural Digest, El Decor, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair, the list goes on.
00:03:29
Speaker
Do you ever look at your work as a collection and curation of your career? It is. It's funny. I finally decided to kind of start working on a book, like a book of my work. and And I've done some incredible books of, you know, that were kind of driven by the the work of other people. But you know I finally decided I'm going to do you know my book, my work, the stuff. So that got me interested in looking back into my archives and and there's a lot. It's it's it's it's it's it'ss almost daunting to kind of, when I'm when i'm sitting here you know at the computer looking at 15 years worth of photo shoots and and there's so much in there and there's so much that I don't remember.
00:04:21
Speaker
And that now that I do, it's just's so yeah, there's there's there's so much, it's it's an incredible resource that I have now to kind of dig into. And it just becomes a question of how do you and do you organize it? And maybe a lot of f collectors have that problem. how do you I just worked on a ah book, as a little side note, the last book that I had come out last year with John Dempsey called Behind the Blue Door.
00:04:46
Speaker
And you know John lives in this six-story townhouse in New York City. He might be a great guest for you. And he collects photography and glass and art, and you know almost at the level of like, are you like is this hoarding? like If there's a surface available, it's got something on it. And the entire book, this entire 250-page book is about his collection, and it's frenetic and wild and incredible.
Capturing Beauty in Unexpected Spaces
00:05:12
Speaker
And so, you know, there's kind of a reason to the madness, and I guess I'm trying to figure that out now for myself. Is there a favorite room of yours to shoot? In anyone's home? Yeah. Actually, the room that we always shoot last is the powder room. It doesn't mean it's my least favorite, but for some reason it's the one that just...
00:05:34
Speaker
you kind of get to at the end because it's the one that seems the least exciting. But that's kind of always a place where people have a little bit of fun in their homes, is the powder room. Yeah. its but you know But as a photographer, you have very little space to capture it. It's so small. um i don't you know I don't have a favorite movie. I don't have a favorite book. I don't think I have a favorite room. You could always be surprised by what your favorite room is in someone's house.
00:06:03
Speaker
And there's no methodology. There's no reason why it's my favorite. I was shooting a project in, in Gestad, Switzerland recently for a designer that was, I mean, and this project was, it just made your head spin because it was so special. And one of like my most favorite, favorite images from, and this is a, this was, you know, these are clients that have,
00:06:29
Speaker
You know, their demands were more. Like, the truly, there's no budget. So you're looking at the most incredible things, the most incredible ideas realized. And, you know, cashmere walls and leather, i mean it elevator. It's is so fantastic. And my favorite picture from that shoot was the stairwell.
Storytelling Through Photography
00:06:50
Speaker
you know it was just It was just a gray plastered stairwell with a window and a sconce. And there was something so special about the way the light came through the window and the way the plaster soaked up the... reflect it was And so obviously that wasn't supposed to be the most favorite room because there were so many other things that had so many incredible ideas. But for p this was the one that really stood out the most.
00:07:20
Speaker
Collecting, as you probably are aware, is often about the story. And when you shoot someone's personal home, you have this innate ability to create a group of photographs that truly tell that story. What are the techniques that you use to capture that? And how do you approach storytelling through photographs? So, you know, I've been so fortunate in in my career to have worked with the great, the great, great editors.
00:07:49
Speaker
And editors and stylists are so different. A stylist, you know, styles room, but an editor is curating the narrative. What's, you know, how are you going to look at this?
00:08:01
Speaker
It can be really dull to see a house just shot. you know but What's the biggest picture of that room? But in an editor, a storyteller, you're imagining what's this 14-page narrative? like What's the story going to be? What are the 18 pictures of this this space that are going to inform the reader of what this place is and who the people are that live there and who are the minds
Challenges and Instincts in Photography
00:08:26
Speaker
that created it? and you know So you might not need to see every bedroom and you might not want to see the whole room and you know being able to zoom out or zoom in in ah in a photo. And those tools are so important, like being able to you know tell a story, to edit, to really be able to go in and understand. And again, it's like,
00:08:48
Speaker
It's a vibe. It's a feeling. It's innate in who the photographer, like all photographers see spaces different ways. And so, you know, the tools you use to express the whole story, because you might have, you might shoot 70 pictures of a home, but you need to tell that story in 12. So how do you choose the 12?
00:09:13
Speaker
And I'm sure the home's not always set up in a conducive way to achieve what you're looking to do. You know, I'm sure you have to move furniture around and yes stress out the yeah the the subjects a little bit, right? I do, I do. im I am that like my brain, your eye, like I trust it. I don't second guess it anymore. So I'll go in and it's like,
00:09:36
Speaker
For me to feel balance, the harmony of that photograph, you have to move a sofa. you know That's just how your eye sees it. And some people don't. It's really interesting every so often, and it's very, very rare that as a photographer, you get to shoot a project that another photographer has already shot. And it was moments where you know where you get to kind of see how two different creatives see the same space is fascinating because they look so different. Absolutely. you know Collectors often have these mental checklists that you know items have to meet in order to add to their collection. There's a criteria that they have that make them say, yes, I'm going to add this thing to my collection. For you,
00:10:27
Speaker
What makes that perfect shot that allows you to use it in your collection of photos? You know, how do you how do you time it so perfect for that light to be coming through the window and that stairwell against the gray plaster wall at a homage dot, you know? It's years. It's years and years and years of practice, but it's also... It's fake.
00:10:49
Speaker
and trust in the work that you do. And I've learned not to second-guess my instincts. There's another designer that we've started working with, and she's she's been in the business a long time. so We shot a couple of her projects that had been shot, and she was like, wow, she couldn't the way I saw her work was so different than the way it's been seen in the past. and you know we was So we shot and she was she was so happy and she she brought us in to shoot a few more projects of hers recently in Nantucket and we we shot those. And her team was like, oh, you know could you make everything like 25% brighter? And you know I responded with, well, it it then it looks like everything that you've done in the past. And and you carefully you kind of explain
00:11:39
Speaker
why it it should be this. you know i'm I'm such a believer in in the work that I do, and but I'm also ah you're a team player and you know I understand what it means to be creative and to work with other creative people. and But I was yeah i was able to to say and explain confidently why you know why I shot things a little darker or with a bit more mood or with a sense that you could feel the light
Unique Moments and Projects Outside Comfort Zones
00:12:03
Speaker
coming through a room. and I was comfortable kind of sticking up for my point of view and why it shouldn't be 25% brighter. And they they understood and they got it because they believed in you know my confidence. I guess I've kind of become known for the shadows in ah in in my photography, the dark spots.
00:12:27
Speaker
Well, that's kind of the thing. It's like this rarity and uniqueness. And that those are two terms that are really often thrown around in the collecting community. you know Is it rare? Is it unique? Do you find that in each project you shoot, you're always going to have those unique and rare moments or perspectives?
00:12:45
Speaker
I do. i I just, I don't get to work with other photographers, but I love listening to stories about how other photographers work. And, and I hear these stories about, you know, on a shoot recently and the client was, the designer was saying how they'd worked with this photographer and the photographer was like on a shoot recently with them. Their last shoot they'd done together was like, you know, this really isn't in my wheelhouse. This really isn't,
00:13:15
Speaker
the type of work that I like to do. And I was like, wow, that's so that's so interesting to me that this photographer, like some others I've heard about, will only shoot what they like or what they're comfortable or what's in their wheelhouse or that's familiar to them. And I'm like, well, that's not my job. but no like I don't necessarily have to love the point of view of what I'm shooting, but I i love shooting things that that's not my style.
00:13:44
Speaker
But I love trying to understand how to make that beautiful to me or valuable. like It'd be very easy for me to only shoot projects that had plaster walls and ukulele furniture. you know Easy, beautiful, obvious. But I love a project that I'm like, okay, this is all like French antiques in Spanish-style house in Laguna Beach. Like, good God, this is so not anything. This is not a way I would ever choose to live, but how fun for me that I have to make it into something desirable. Well, and that's the thing about
Finding Beauty in the Mundane
00:14:25
Speaker
photography, right? it It's this way of preserving a moment in time, much like how collectors preserve items of significance.
00:14:35
Speaker
Is there a particular photograph or a project that you've done recently or in the past that you feel emulates preserving or collecting a moment in time? I got to say, i I love this question. and it you know it's it's to this there it's it's This is why I love interior photography like this question because i i I get to photograph things and I don't mind investing every like all of my energy and all of my time and all of my emotional resources to making that picture of that room valuable. and because Because I but i believe it that image of that room can resonate and can feel important this year.
00:15:27
Speaker
But it can also feel relevant 10 years later. It's one of the reasons I did not love being a fashion photographer because I felt like you're going to see the that work once and then you really don't care about it again because it's fashion. and it has I think it's so rare that a fashion photograph will have value again in 10 years or 15 years. I don't know. But interior work does. and If this is, it's again, it's a collection and you hope that the things you collect and the hope you hope that the things you invest your time and skills and resources in will have value. And I'm not talking about monetary value in 10 years, but I hope the work that I'm doing will still resonate when you look at that photograph in 10 years or in 15 years. Because anyone that collects anything, you hope that
00:16:21
Speaker
You know you'll look at that those objects, those things again, and and it's still beautiful. like Why would you collect something that loses its appeal a day later?
00:16:35
Speaker
Well, and that's kind of the thing, you know, it's like you talk about shooting these powder rooms and the powder room may be the last thing on your checklist to finish up before you leave the project.
Design Details and Personal Connections
00:16:45
Speaker
But it's kind of about finding beauty in the mundane. And whether that's something that's mundane to you or mundane to the person who owns the home, you have to find beauty in that subject or that item or that room in order to make it beautiful for everyone else, right? Yeah. A lot of people have spent massive amount of their time to make those rooms look extraordinary, whether it's my taste or not. My responsibility to capture that, to preserve that, to honor what all these people have done is so important to me.
00:17:27
Speaker
My most favorite thing to hear is when ah a client or a homeowner is like, oh my God, this looks so much better than it really is. And I'm like, I've achieved something here. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I love going you know to a restaurant and coming back to the table and being like, did you guys see the bathroom?
00:17:44
Speaker
and yeah you know it's like It's not supposed to be great, but it is. and you know I think about a place like you know the polo bar in Manhattan. and When you go to the bathroom there, it's like you're excited to go to the bathroom. You almost don't want to go back to the table because the moment is so great.
00:18:01
Speaker
yeah Again, it's like you have that type of rain where you're going to pick up on that because someone did spend time on that. and you know i'm I'm renovating a house now on Long Island and my appreciation for for what designers and architects do is greater.
00:18:18
Speaker
Because when you understand what needs to be considered to make a room finished, like every nail head, every like every decision, like someone is agonized over that. Whether it's the stuff that you appreciate or not, but it's still like it's still there. it's still it's still Someone or a team of people have considered that.
00:18:46
Speaker
And now I'm going through that process. like and it It sounds so mundane, but what's that light switch? Is it a toggle? is it a you know but What's that light switch going to be? Right. Do you want it to be you know ah coverings from resident supply or Buster and Punch? you know Do you want it to be all these little nuanced things to just go that extra mile that will eventually put a smile on your face? I think that's what it's all about.
00:19:12
Speaker
It's something like as mundane as a light switch, but the light switch is how everyone is going to kind of connect, touch, interact with that home. so like of Of course, you've got to consider, like what does that feel like like? Is someone going to be like, oh God, this plastic, cheap switch, or is it going to be like a brass plate with a one button? or in like All those things. like yeah How do you want someone to... I don't know.
00:19:42
Speaker
you know people collect all sorts i guess um i want to again thinking about collections and People collect all sorts of things and and you know ideas. or you know it's it's Maybe it's really obvious to collect cars. Maybe it's less obvious to collect salt shakers, salt and pepper shakers.
00:19:59
Speaker
but equally as important or is maybe not as obvious? Yeah, no, I think i think you know there's a lot of ways to look at collecting. And I think a lot of people get stuck on this, oh, is it tangible? Does it have monetary value? And it's not always that, right? For you, for someone who you know you say you don't collect anything, but you're going through the same processes and thought process that a collector has while renovating your home in Long Island right now. you know how how how deep are you going on the research of you know these these light switches? you know it it It ends up being the same process. I mean i get into it. yeah I remember when I was building this house and in Marfa years ago and you know what i what I was working with was like a derelict piece of land with nothing on it.
00:20:52
Speaker
but sterile dirt. And then all of a sudden you're considering every single thing, everything, like you have to consider the gravel. You're considering you're seeing everything that is being you know brought into that home. And so it becomes important. A hundred percent. how How about nostalgia for you? you know I'm curious to know how your personal experience and and influence ah plays into your work. I find that nostalgia,
00:21:22
Speaker
can actually get in the way of great design as a photographer working with designers or clients. And the conversation comes up with like, oh, oh, you know, it's like, I really love that bouquet of dried roses hanging on the doorknob because it just, see it was so important to me because it came from, and I was like, well, you know, there's, I don't know if there's room for nostalgia in that type of design because It's not necessarily important to the grand scheme of what was being considered by the designer or the architect. Sure. It's important to the client because it's a memory specifically for them, but I'm not necessarily sure that the viewer or the reader or who's ever consuming this information, I don't know if it's important to them. It might be more important to them if it was a celebrity or somebody famous.
Notable Projects and Self-Editing Challenges
00:22:16
Speaker
I think nostalgia has a bit more room then. Yeah, no, it totally makes sense. Because it's it it gives someone else a feeling, but to the mass majority of people viewing it, it may be, for lack of a better term, more of an eyesore or a distraction.
00:22:34
Speaker
Douglas, before we wrap up with the collector's dream rundown, I wanted to ask you about three projects that you photographed, and if you could tell me something that you loved or discovered about each one, that would be fantastic. Of course. So, Love Shack fancy founder Rebecca Hessel Cohen's home. Wow. So fabulous. Insane house. Insane. From an insanely creative mind.
00:23:01
Speaker
Was there something that you you know discovered in that home or something that you saw that just stuck out to you? Her approach to, I mean, just the flowers. I mean, we're always bringing florals into a world when we're photographing, but her world of flowers of roses, I've never experienced anything like it. I mean, we're talking like thousands and thousands and thousands of roses and flowers on this shoot that her team brought in everywhere. and it was so important to her life and so important to the way that she, you know, that she approaches the world. And the way the world sees her, the way the world sees her business, the way the world sees everything she's created, like, there's, like, you get it. And and so that's, I mean, that's really what, I mean, besides the incredible design and the furniture and the real obvious stuff, but like, God, her, the way that she lives with flowers was remarkable.
00:24:01
Speaker
How about Susie Hilfiger's Greenwich Farm? I mean, Denby Farm, again, created out of a brilliant, creative, like insane mind. I've known Susie for a very long time, and she's completely insane in the best way. And in that house, the Denby Farm, like it's something that could never be designed.
00:24:30
Speaker
you know And what stands out are the layers. It's just like someone spent years and years and years thinking about and then always adding more and more and more and more. And and that's so hard to do and get it right.
00:24:48
Speaker
Yeah, because they sometimes it could just look like a hodgepodge. And it doesn't. And Denmey Farm is like, wow. It's immaculate. It's incredible. And it's weird though it's it's it's really remarkable. It's such an incredible home. And I honestly, what insane privilege. And ive i been've I've spent many years at that house. And I was so thrilled when you know when they were like, can you photograph this? I was like, oh my God, I've wanted to photograph this for so long. That's great. like i didn't eat like And there were no fees. I was like, let's just do this. like right i was That's how excited I was. like Don't even pay me. and It's for your personal archive. Yeah. Well, no, just because how thrilling, how exciting to get my my eyes on this. There's so much to see.
00:25:39
Speaker
Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, talk about, you know, narrowing down the amount of photographs that you can use to for an article. I mean, how difficult that must have been. And talk about a collection. I mean, like honestly, like a collection of copper pots in the kitchen and displayed so beautifully, but not in like a cheap way. Like all of those pots, which are, I mean, dozens and dozens of giant copper pots.
00:26:07
Speaker
you know, just stacked on a stove, because that's where the only place they could... And then you're like, God, that's so beautiful, the way she stacked those pots. I love it. I would love to know, lastly, what it was like to shoot your own home in Marfa.
Building a Home in Marfa and Career Reflections
00:26:22
Speaker
Horrible. It was so terrible, and I kind of did a terrible job, and... No, no, it turned out great. Are you kidding? Thank you. It's... But it's like... I... i The talk about, like, getting stuck in nostalgia,
00:26:35
Speaker
Like, I didn't even know what to remove, what not to remove. I was so i was so glad, you know, Michael Reynolds, again, ah one of the great, again, I should say Michael Reynolds, Cynthia Frank, and you just start seedy, like the great, great, great editors of our time. And I had Michael Reynolds help, thank God he was here to help style my home because I was like, I don't like i i love everything.
00:27:00
Speaker
I chose everything. and But do I love it because there was a beautiful story behind every pebble or every light bulb or every spoon? I don't know. I just i didn't know how to self edit. See, there's the collector in you coming out. I look at the photography, I'm like, Oh, this is terrible. It's terrible. No, no, it turned out great. Thank you. I thought it would must have been really special to be able to shoot your own home and then have that published. I mean, what a cool thing. I mean, talk about, I mean, the unbelievable thrill right of, you know, knowing. Again, it's like,
00:27:39
Speaker
of all of the projects in the world each year that are selected for Architectural Digest or any magazine, you know there are thousands that get submitted, and there's only four or five a month. So there's, what, there's 40 or 50 in a year? And then have your project be selected and published in print? And then given 14 pages of a magazine, it's like,
00:28:09
Speaker
makes my head spin. Well, here's the thing, right? I think the the interesting thing that people may skip over with that whole process was, you know, Marfa is still very up and coming. It's still a relatively untapped destination market, ah livable place, and you have the foresight to build a home there, to spend a lot of your time there, and to put so much effort into it that it deserves to make it into you know a magazine like that and i think that that's the thing that collectors would pick up on but the general public might not realizes is the foresight and that's what it is about being a collector is having this foresight to you know what's next what is an untapped market what is something that no one else is paying attention to but you have to love it correct you have to love it it doesn't work if you're just like flipping the idea or
00:29:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's like, is it really like, okay, so you're starting to collect things that everybody else is already collecting, like jumping on the bandwagon. Right. And that's what I think is so interesting, right? Is that, you know, you decided to to build a home in this remote place that that not many people, that people were, you know, quote unquote, sleeping on. And um it's a place that you are constantly associated with and that you constantly spend time at. And I think that that's a true testament to whatever little collector you may have in you.
00:29:37
Speaker
It was a very questionable decision 10 years ago. And you know again, my my parents like, what are you doing?
00:29:49
Speaker
Well, they said the same thing about anthropology. I know. ah Maybe that's, I'll wrap it up. It's like, I, again, it's, yeah, it's like the same thing that happened when I chose my major, but I believed in it. And when I, when I chose Marfa and I was like, wow, you're a single gay man in your thirties and you're going to go to Marfa, Texas and throw your hat into that ring, you're crazy. And i've I was like, I know I'm crazy, but I can't not do this.
00:30:17
Speaker
And I didn't hesitate, and I believed so strongly in what I was doing. And and it's it's ah it's nice. It's really, really nice that now, like, my parents are like, oh, now, oh, Beyonce and Jay-Z move there? Oh, your neighbor's house just sold for what? I was like, okay. Like, we get it. They get it.
00:30:43
Speaker
They understand that it's paid off in a very obvious way. It's paid off in so many ways, but that obvious way of like, oh, in know in a way that my parents understand, that has value to me. Like i'm I'm kind of glad that they're proud and that they get it. Like they didn't understand why it was going to be an anthropologist. They didn't understand why I was going to be a photographer. Like at 32, you're like, you're making like $35,000 a year as an assistant. They're like, what are you doing?
00:31:14
Speaker
and But now they get it. And I'm glad. it's like it It makes me proud and I'm so satisfied that they're proud. And they get it finally. That they have some bragging rights because I certainly didn't give them reason to brag when I was like in my 20s and early 30s. I love it.
Concluding Thoughts on Collecting and Passions
00:31:34
Speaker
Douglas, let's wrap it up with the collector's gene rundown. you know You can answer these questions however you would like, if it's about a ah photo shoot that you did that stuck out, or if it's a ah dream project of yours, or if it's ah you know a collection that you've seen in someone else's home. Sound good? Okay, I'm gonna do my best. No problem. What's the one that got away? The White House. Shooting The White House When the Obamas Were There by Michael Smith. That's the one that got away.
00:32:03
Speaker
How about the on deck circle? So is there something that you're excited about or looking forward to? I really am. I'm very excited to shoot a house, my own home that I'm renovating in Long Island.
00:32:14
Speaker
Amazing. When is that supposed to happen? Well, let's talk to the architect and the designer. Because we're already six months behind schedule, but I am hoping that we will be, let the gardens, did Martha Stewart's designed the gardens, that those are, those are being planted now. Hopefully God, fingers crossed we get to shoot this thing at the end of next spring, spring of 2025. I'm so excited. Amazing. Fingers crossed.
00:32:40
Speaker
the unobtainable. So this is just, this is maybe, uh, you know, something that has already been shot and, and you feel like it's been shot in a great way or however you want to take it. I don't know. I guess it's, you know, one of my oldest friends, my closest dearest friends is, um, Stephen Gambrell, the designer, the architect, one of the greats in the world. We've been friends for 25 years. I love his work, but he, you know, he works as a great photographer.
00:33:10
Speaker
I'd never get in the way of that. But maybe that's the unattainable is his work. How about the page one rewrite? If you could collect anything else in the world and money is no object, what would it be? So for you, if you know you weren't a photographer or if you did want to collect anything and money was no object, what would it be? Maybe it's homes.
00:33:32
Speaker
I mean, because you know the home is something and then everything that's inside that home is something. And you know i've i there's clients, there's projects I've worked on where you know people have multiple homes, like, God, how crazy. But when but it's not a financial investment, but just people just love their homes, what's inside their homes, like you can feel the passion behind it.
00:33:55
Speaker
And then it's like, wow, that's pretty that's pretty great. It sounds so extravagant, but... I mean, if you could collect homes, you could pretty much collect anything else you want. I think we could kind of come to that conclusion, right? You're collecting a house. The home is everything that's also inside of it. It's not just what you see when you're driving down the street. 100%. So that's a... I mean, then you're collecting, like, dozens of things.
00:34:20
Speaker
Copper pots. There you go. you know Gotta to have your own. Can I say like up at Martha Stewart's house in Maine, up at Skylands, I spent an evening with Martha in the butler's pantry this past Memorial Day. We were making martinis.
00:34:40
Speaker
And you know the home used to belong to Edsel Ford. And when she bought it, it came with everything Edsel Ford had in that house, he and Mrs. Ford. And the butler's pantry is this incredible wood paneled room with dozens and dozens and dozens of cabinets and drawers. And ah we just were she was like, what should we put these martinis in? And you're just opening cabinets and finding Mrs. Ford's like crystal collection. There's like 12 different types of martini glasses. Unbelievable.
00:35:06
Speaker
Yeah, and you're like, well, let's have a martini out of this one. I think it's an Italy, it's Venetian, it's got a blue ball on it, but maybe we should go in this cabinet. Oh my God, look at these incredible pink ones. And and then and that's when collecting becomes so exciting and it's extravagant, yeah. But how much fun to sit and talk about and be interested in like the collection of linen napkins and and martini glasses and you know silver olive, you know, ah stick up ah What do they call it? Toothpicks. Cocktail picks, yeah. Cocktail picks. And it's like, wow, if you're interested in this, no matter how weird or mundane, I'm going to become interested in it because you're curious about it. I love it. How about the goat? Who do you look up to in the collecting world as a great collector? I mean, obviously, it's it's I've got to say Martha. Again, because everything that she kind of, you know,
00:36:03
Speaker
considers valuable in her life. Let it be a plant. It can have incredible monetary value or none at all, but she makes you realize why it's important to her. She can back it up. Maybe that's what's important. Not what the thing is, but why it's important to you. Maybe maybe that's where nostalgia gets involved and it has all of a sudden it has, I'm going to consider nostalgia in a different way. I don't know. How about the hunt or the ownership?
00:36:31
Speaker
It's the hunt. It's the most exciting part. big the The research, the searching, then you have it and it's like, oh, okay. You know, then the wind's out of your sails. because but Okay, now what? Right. Honeymoon phase is over. It needs the the next hunt. for the I remember when I was much younger, probably in my 20s, my late 20s, and i was I had this One of the, one of the, one of the people, you know, a boyfriend who I was crazy about, one of the lovers of my life, a photographer called Dean Isidro. And Dean got me really, really interested in, you know, in the, probably the early aughts in serverware, but it was, you know, it was, it was all made, it was all, you know, this beautiful stuff from the forties and the fifties and it was red and it was pink and it was green. It was, it was, uh, yeah, sure. What's it called? Um, and it's, not even, a it it was all glass, but it was different colors. It was, it, it's very,
00:37:28
Speaker
famous and They're bowls, and there's little like refrigerator dishes, and there's platters and serverware. and and you know And this was before first dibs, and this was before the internet. And and so and Dean and I just got me so interested in collecting this stuff. All of a sudden, it was like, we would you know we'd be on a trip somewhere. We'd be like it'd find a thrift store, and it was like, how do we find this stuff? And we'd dig and dig and dig and try. And was we'd be like, yes, we found another piece.
00:37:54
Speaker
And that collection became so important, I remember. Absolutely. Most importantly, do you feel that you were born with the collector's gene? um I think this conversation with you has helped me reconsider what it means to be a collector because I never thought I had the collector's gene because I don't have a you know I don't have a collection of any, I mean, but regardless of what I said about you know collecting these like refrigerator dishes with Dean, but now I think I do. Talking with you made me realize, like
00:38:30
Speaker
The collector's gene is greater than or bigger than the obvious. So I think I probably do. Douglas, thank you so much for joining me today. What a pleasure to have you on and chat with you. ah This is a long time coming, so I'm glad we made it happen. And ah cheers to you and good luck with the house and and the new book. Cameron, it was so nice to be here. Thank you so much for letting me ramble on and on and on. It was a really nice way to spend my afternoon.
00:39:00
Speaker
All right, that does it for this episode. Thank you all for listening to Collector's Gene Radio.