Shane Lavalette

(from “Stuff I Gotta Remember Not to Forget”)
© Darin Mickey

Darin Mikey’s project Stuff I Gotta Remember Not to Forget reminds me, initially, of one of my favorites: Mitch Epstein’s Family Business.

In 2001, Darin Mickey began to document his father’s life at work and at home. Stuff I Gotta Remember Not To Forget is a portrait of Ken Mickey, who sells storage space in converted caves and abandoned mines throughout Kansas. We follow Darin following his father as he makes cold calls, watches television, attends meetings at the Masonic Temple, drives through underground tunnels, and drinks his scotch on the rocks. Mickey’s pictures deftly depict the feelings an adult has toward his parents; an unfamiliarity with the familiar, and the vying feelings of attraction and rejection toward where one comes from. The title – taken from a Ziggy bulletin board – implies both the ambivalence and urgency of what family means once one leaves the fold. As much a memoir of Mickey’s family life as a portrait of a salesman, Stuff I Gotta Remember Not To Forget is a document of the suburban midwest, in turn honest, ridiculous and tender.

The book, recently published through J&L Books and edited by Jason Fulford, is a great way to view the work.

spread from Stuff I Gotta Remember Not to Forget, 2007
© Darin Mickey / J&L Books

spread from Stuff I Gotta Remember Not to Forget, 2007
© Darin Mickey / J&L Books

spread from Stuff I Gotta Remember Not to Forget, 2007
© Darin Mickey / J&L Books

I should mention that limited edition 8×10″ prints of ten of the images from the project are available through J&L for $200 each (a purchase of a print includes a signed copy of the book).