Currently based in Berlin but previously based in Melbourne, Holly and I got to know Lydia through a love for detail, shared adoration of thoughtfully made garments, and a habit of personifying one's own clothes and a love for detail.
Sharing her sharp eye, Lydia photographed the Reso Bag and Always Pouch blending within the surrounding environment in early 2020. Out of place while on hikes in Aotearoa, New Zealand her photos transport the viewer into a world where the accessory is the protagonist. Seeing the rich visual world she composes through photography, it is no surprise that Lydia is an avid reader, dipping into other peoples real and imagined written world. Because of this, Lydia has quickly became my go-to person to ask for book recommendations. To prepare for the cooler months hibernation ahead of us, I asked Lydia to share some recommended reading.
- Interview by Zoe Baumgartner
Any tips for finding books that you’ll love?
Finding bookish friends with similar tastes but not quite the same as yours. A slight deviation from a mere echo chamber of what you always read with very good chances you’ll have a great time reading it.
Overcoming the assumption that choosing books by their cover is vain.
Your favourite things that books offer?
Beautifully ornate language that I wish to be surrounded by more often. Escaping into someone else’s reality and perception.
Build the scene for us: a favourite place, and a favourite outfit to read in?
In that hammock overlooking the Marlborough Sounds, listening to my beloved birdsong in my favourite cozy cotton knit dress layered with varying layers of shirts or woollens according to whatever momentary breeze might balm or freeze.
And finally, 12 reading recommendations to take us into the cool months ahead?
My Private Property by Mary Ruefle
A Horse at Night by Amina Cain
Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Seven Meditations from a Life in Writing by Carl Phillips
Figuring by Maria Popova
Too Much and Not the Mood by Durga Chew-Bose
Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti
Bring No Clothes by Charlie Porter
This Ragged Grace by Octavia Bright
Exposure by Olivia Sudjic
How to Loiter in a Turf War by Coco Solid
Tauhou by Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall
A recent re-read?
Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett
And a favourite by an Australian author?
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
A full circle moment - Lydia's photo on display at the Berlin public library.
All photos by Lydia Trappenberg.