A Photo Journal: Lolo & Lola’s Garden

The Secret Garden

My brother and I wanted to recreate what this garden looked like to two young grandchildren. To us, this concrete backyard, that neighbors the backend of a restaurant kitchen, was magical, mysterious, and green.

This house has always been a symbol of my family’s bay area roots. When I was born, this house belonged to my grandparents, and now it belongs to my cousins. Nevertheless, chips and imperfections have continued to decorate this house over the course of time; making it even more special and beautiful to the many people that have shared memories here. We attempted to capture the essence of a very specific part of the house through a series of photographs: the backyard.

This tub was the home of my first pet. Hidden under the second floor of the house, the koi pond sat on a floor of hand-placed bricks. All nine koi fish had a special name that was significant to my grandpa. My grandpa had named mine Princess. She was white and embroidered with vibrant orange spots. My cousins and I spent San Fransisco summer days sitting on the stones surrounding the fish tub, feeding the fish with fish food we had found in the back of a shed.