This One Is For You is a series I began in January 2020, six months after my father passed away unexpectedly, to help me cope with my grief. Each diorama or vignette is inspired by a memory (or series of memories) I have with him and is my way of keeping his story alive and showcasing the bits I love and miss most.
Jack Strutz is the photographer for the series.
Located within this mountain scene that pays homage to the countless hikes we took through the North Georgia mountains are 11 miniature props. Each prop signifies a memory I have with my props. For example, the softball bat is from when he coached my softball team throughout middle school, and the gnome is for the garden he began with my mom.
My dad worked for Coca-Cola for 15 years, and I remember not being able to drink anything but Coke products for most of my childhood. I think that’s probably why the taste of Pepsi is so drastically different for me. He also worked at the 1996 Olympics, which I only discovered when I was randomly scouring through his closet one day and came upon a bunch of pins and memorabilia.
The playing cards, poker chips, and dice pay homage to our countless game nights growing up, and the family reunion in Vegas. (I lost 99% of the game nights, haha, he really was reigning champ)
Sunday Dinner
Sunday Dinner pays homage to all the pasta nights at my godparents’ house growing up after LFL (Laguna Football League). For years, we gathered with various friends and family to play flag football in the afternoon; we even, at one point, created goals out of PVC pipe to make the kicks official.
When the kids grew up, and it became a little harder to gather, my parents still made pasta for us on Sundays and when we gathered with extended family. It has very much become a dish that reminds me of home.
This diorama depicts my childhood home, which I lived in for twenty-two years, and my folks owned for twenty-six. The garden located in the middle of the yard was the final project my dad worked on and one that I completed with my family and partner after his funeral. We filled the garden with gnomes and plants, many of which were donated from friends and family.
One of my dad's favorite hobbies was Ham Radio, and he was first licensed in 2014 at GARS (Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society) Ham Cram and soon after became a member. He also joined ARES (America Radio Emergency Service), where he volunteered to assist in public service and emergency communications and held the title Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Membership and Business.
My dad and I have a series of goofy photographs throughout the years of us chomping into In-N-Out Burgers on various trips. Whenever we would land in Los Angeles, Vegas, or even Dallas, it was always one of the go-to meals. As such, it is attached to a series of trips and memories.
The year of this shoot (2024) marked five years without my pops, and to honor his memory, I decided to design a collection that focused on something we all loved and holds many memories and, best of all, to do it all with my mom. Throughout each of the three sets, the overarching theme is board games —classics and what we played growing up. The most popular games in the Doemland Household were Monopoly and Yahtzee, my parents’ favorites, and are featured in the two main sets. Fun fact: the kitchen table is the same one we had growing up and inspired the entire set.