The Journey officially kicks off on September 15th, which is somehow less than two weeks away.
And today was day one of the set build.
Starting a new set build is always a little daunting. The design has been living in David’s head for weeks, and I keep catching him staring into space doing mental math, trying to figure out how to make this entire idea actually work.
Having a wild idea is one thing. Figuring out how to make it a reality involves a lot more problem-solving, math, measuring, re-measuring, and sawdust.
And this one has quite a few problems to solve.
The entire set has to fit inside the bed of our Toyota Tacoma, survive 25 days outside, travel thousands of miles across the country, withstand wind and potentially rain, and still be sturdy enough for us to climb all over it.
The Set Design
David designed this set to be photographed in two completely different ways.
The main design is a four-layer reverse forced perspective tunnel. Each section gradually changes in size, creating an optical illusion that makes the space appear much larger and deeper than it actually is. At the very end will be a giant picture window framing whatever landscape we happen to be in.
The outside of the set is being designed too. Instead of just being the ugly backside of a photo set, the exterior will form a staircase that I can actually stand, sit, and pose on.
So essentially, we are trying to squeeze two sets into one. Inside a truck bed that is only about 5.5 feet long.
There is a lot to figure out.
Wind is probably my biggest concern with the entire project. We are deliberately taking the set and mobile photography studio into some pretty exposed landscapes, so David has been factoring that into the design from the beginning, trying to minimize drag while making sure everything is strong, secure, and safe.
We also had to remove the tailgate to make the set fit.
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But we still need the tailgate when the set comes out of the truck.
So now the tailgate has to travel underneath the set, which became yet another puzzle David has to design around.
Every solution seems to create a new problem. Which, honestly, is pretty much how all of our sets get made.
Day One
The first day of a set build always feels significant because it is the moment when you finally have to take the thing out of your head and make it exist in the real world.
It can also feel like you accomplished almost nothing.
There are so many tiny, repetitive steps at the beginning. Measure. Cut. Check the measurement. Cut again. Drill pocket holes. Screw everything together. Repeat.
Today we focused on framing the platforms for each of the four sections of the forced perspective tunnel. There was a lot of cutting everything down to size and a LOT of time spent with our Kreg jig making pocket holes.
By the end of the day, we had all four platforms built.
It doesn't look like a finished set yet, but for the first time, you can start to see it.
We're Filming the Whole Thing
One thing that is making this project feel different is that we are filming a documentary about the entire Journey, starting right here with the set build.
We document our process all the time for social media, but this feels different. Instead of trying to condense everything into a 30-second Reel, we get to document it in a more thoughtful, narrative way. The problems. The bad ideas. The good ideas. The things that go wrong. The tiny decisions that eventually become a finished photograph.
It also means everything takes longer because you have to stop building to get the shot of yourself building.
This project is a major undertaking for us. It's probably one of the most ambitious things we've ever tried to make, and we are incredibly grateful to have Adorama as our presenting partner helping us bring the series to life.
And we are equally grateful for everyone who has joined the Journey Journal or become a producer of the project. Seeing other people believe in this idea while we're still standing in a driveway surrounded by plywood means more than I can really explain.
The Route Has Changed... Again
We also have what we think is our final route.
We have moved things around quite a bit over the past few weeks, trying to maximize fall foliage while also fitting as many dramatically different landscapes into the trip as possible.
That's really the heart of this entire project.
The set stays the same.
Everything around it changes. Forests, dunes, mountains, salt flats, red rocks, desert, coastline.
For a while, David and I have both felt like we needed a big change. We felt stuck. We wanted to make something that challenged us creatively and forced us out of our normal routines and took us to new places.
Well...this is definitely doing that.
For months, The Journey has mostly existed as sketches, conversations, spreadsheets, emails, maps, measurements, and a ridiculous number of ideas floating around in our heads.
Today we cut the first pieces of wood.
And it's finally becoming real.
Day one down. A lot more sawdust to go.
