As a part of our maudern people series, we asked Los Angeles-based photographer and art director Sam Sing for insights on modern intimacy. She lives with her boyfriend Thi Tran and is the art director at loungewear brand Lunya.
What is your relationship status?
Dating
With social distancing & quarantine, how has human contact changed for you?
The practice of restriction for a short period of time is something I have actively done in my day to day life. I find it to be helpful to ground myself and let me sort my thoughts on if it's a need, want, or desire. I am looking at social distancing in the same way—I am a feeler and physical contact is how I connect to people, but the lack of it has also made me realize where I have put a lot of my energy into for a bit of time and I have been able to reorder who, what and where I want to spend my time with. I have rekindled relationships that didn't always fit into my dense schedule and cut out energy that no longer has a place. I hope you all are doing the same—this time is showing us what actually matters in life, our people.
I am a feeler and physical contact is how I connect to people, but the lack of it has also made me realize where I have put a lot of my energy into..
How do you make time for intimacy?
We are so grateful to both have jobs and have found our areas of work to be especially busy during this time. We start the day connecting over coffee, then we are off to separate rooms where we spend most of the day in meetings. Midday we try to sneak in a bike ride or lunch and a much-needed break from the screen. Post-work, we are spending the evening in the warmth moving our bodies (thank you California) and cooking. After a couple of weeks of quarantine—we established that quantity of time did not equal quality and so we made a point to start and end the day with a little amount of screen time and lots of eye contact.
How has your perspective on your home/space changed?
Being a lover of home—stay home is a pretty simple ask from my perspective. There are definitely moments where I go a bit stir crazy—but overall, my perspective of home has only evolved into a deeper love for it. Creating space where projects are in flux and evolving keeps my mind fresh. I can't resist creating, organizing, and making things more functional, and always being home has given me the time to dive into projects I would otherwise have left on the to-do list indefinitely.
How do you keep busy? Do you separate the weekend and weekdays?
Keeping busy—as I said above, is no issue when I am home - there's always something to work on, a new design challenge, or getting lost in photo editing. My challenge lies in slowing down. We use the weekends to slow way down. The weekdays hold their own schedule as I am answering to others—but weekends we keep very slow. Slowly waking up, losing count on cups of coffee, spending lots of hours in the sun, long meals, or lots of snacking and afternoon naps.
What is a new activity you are planning to try?
I have been diving deep into art—and evolving some pieces I have created. This month, I am tackling my green thumb! We are building a garden box and hopefully, by June I will be flooded with Arugula...
Do you have a book or movie on your list while home?
I am finding myself opening all of the design books that I've purchased and put on the shelf in hopes to find the time. Now, there's no excuse.
Here are some favorites...
Designing Design by Kenya Hara
Weak Messages Create Bad Situations by David Shrigley
A Book of Things by Jasper Morrison
Today We Should Be Thinking About: Jo Baer, Thomas Baylre, Jimmie Durham, Robert Filliou, Haim Steinbach, and Rosemarie Trockel by Anthony Humberman
