‘Objects of Affection’ is a book of photography, illustration, poetic musing and analytical research, celebrating the innately human act of surrounding ourselves with meaningful objects, and the ways in which building your own object landscape can bring joy and reflect identity into home environments. This book draws the reader into the art of collecting and curating objects with personal resonance, guiding in the cultivation of this act as a powerful tool for self expression and self care.

Whether sentimental, religious, aesthetic or functional, personal artefacts accumulate layered memories and associations over time, expressing one’s perception of self and the wider world. Developing the habit of collecting on a small scale in your everyday surroundings can be a way to explore, discover and understand your own reality in a playful and curious way.

Inviting the reader into an intimate archiving of my own collection of artefacts, I use visuals and words to interpret each personal association and express the joy, passion and value of doing this in your own life. This rare glimpse into the inner world of another is paired with interviews with a broad range of collectors and an in-depth analysis of the psychological, evolutionary and historical explanations for the human desire to surround ourselves with personal objects. In this way, ‘Objects of Affection’ examines the diverse inner worlds, meanings and relationships one might develop with their objects, and encourages the reader’s discovery of their own unique topography.

Next ︎