O3 Newtown, Sydney ©Alison Zavos
Today I’m writing from a Studio Ghibli-inspired study cafe in Sydney, where I just polished off my first hojicha sea salt cloud (delicious) of the day. The decor here is also delicious and sets the Ghibli vibe without trying too hard. Think warm lanterns, fairy lights, vintage desk lamps, red stairwells, torii gates, hanging moss, and old, obscure books everywhere you look.
In a previous life, this space was a used bookstore, and when the team behind O3 Space took it over, they decided to work with what was left behind. Transforming what was old and seemingly worthless into something of wonder and surprise. It’s one of those spaces where each time you go, you see something you didn’t notice before.
I was pondering this when I came across Michael Rupp’s submission “Keeping the Lights On,” a project that reminds me of a less polished “Set in the Street”.
“Keeping the Lights On” asks what we decide is worth keeping, what becomes invisible once it is discarded, and whether attention itself can return value to something abandoned. —Michael Rupp, photographer
READER SUBMISSIONS
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“Keeping the Lights On” by Michael Rupp
“The sites sit along backroads and near motorways, hidden from view but easy to access. What is abandoned there is more than waste. Beds, wardrobes, toys, lamps, clothing and family objects collect in the landscape, forming the remains of entire households.
“I begin by searching for these places, driving through the areas around where I live and using satellite maps to identify spaces that are accessible but concealed. At each site, I spend time looking through what has been left behind. I collect objects that appear to belong together and use them to reconstruct the room they may once have occupied.
“Four rooms are built in total. Each reconstruction is assembled on location using only discarded materials found at the site. Once complete, the room is lit and photographed, temporarily resembling a home again.
“The work is concerned with this transformation. An object can move from private possession to public waste without physically changing. A chair still functions as a chair. A lamp still gives light. What changes is the way it is seen.
“By rebuilding these domestic spaces, I am not trying to restore their original stories. Those remain unknown. Instead, I give the objects a temporary structure in which they can be noticed again.” —Michael Rupp, photographer
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INSIGHT
“I have been beset with a sense of urgency to record those parts of our heritage which seem to be receding as quickly as the view from the rear of a speeding train. I fear that we are eradicating the evidence of our past accomplishments so quickly that in time we may well lose the sense of who we are.” —David Plowden, photographer (October 9, 1932 – May 4, 2026)
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