Herb Sundays 119: Daniel Dorsa
The beloved photographer's "memory box" of tunes from Greenland hikes.
Herb Sundays 119: Daniel Dorsa (Apple, Spotify).
Art by Michael Cina.
“Hey there! So I've been working on this personal project in Greenland, and I put together this playlist along the way. This has been a mixture of music I've been listening to while going on long walks in remote areas I'm exploring and some music that the unique landscape has inspired me to revisit. This happens less often, but I can't stand the question "what kind of music do you listen to?", because it feels so restrictive. I don't limit myself in the music I engage with and everything is based on mood / scenery.
Quite a few of my hikes in Greenland have got me turning to ambient or American folk music. Sometimes, all I want is to listen to the sharp wind rustling my windbreaker and the distant howls of sled dogs. Other times, a small sound from nature brings back a song I haven't heard in ages. This playlist is like a memory box of all those diverse experiences. It may seem a bit random, but to me, it's a perfect reflection of my journey. Hope you dig it as much as I do!” - Daniel Dorsa (
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Edited from the bio: Daniel Dorsa is a Los Angeles photographer who works across portraiture, fashion, landscape and visual reportage. A fascination with the cultural and aesthetic flatness of modern America permeates Dorsa’s work, which is tied to his upbringing in suburban Florida as a child of Cuban and Italian immigrants. He discovered photography in high school, taking a class with the intention of documenting his friends in the skateboarding scene. Inspired by skate magazine action imagery and the freedom skateboarding itself offered as a vehicle for both environmental engagement and creative expression. Dorsa’s first book, Paradise, draws together photographs made between 2017 and 2020 in south and central Florida, exploring isolation and environmental decay. He currently has a new zine out, The Sun Was Gold Like A Yolk Dripping, about self-exploration while traveling in Japan.
I have a lot of reverence for the photographer’s job, maybe a touch of good envy. To be in the moment but safely removed, to be connected but ulta-aware, it takes a special type of person to get it right. I’ve covered a few photographers in Herb including Ari Marcopoulos, Will Calcutt, and Kevin Kelly, and keep finding more to love about them each time. There are a lot of great substacks on photography, I dig
’s In The Flash and ’s Crewdson Trail Log, both diaries from working practitioners. If other faves, please let me know in the comments.The duality of discipline and feeling photographers must exhibit lies not only in making images but ‘in the edit’ where the work and taste bubble up. One thing I’ve found is that you have to love people to make images of them. Dorsa’s work is wildly human but never without style, in that he can do the glossy celeb portrait thing for major outlets and also elevate an independent musician for a project to the same heights. He makes people look great, mythic even, but doesn’t make them look like anything but themselves.
I’ve been a fan of Dorsa’s for a long time unknowingly, from his work for Love Injection (Herb 42/43) including his portraits of The Lot Radio residents (where Ghostly keeps a quarterly show). He was chosen to shoot our collaboration with eyewear brand Article One years back and loved what he brought to the work, but when he shot recent Ghostly signing
for NUVO Magazine I felt the need to reach out. His comfort with landscapes best relates this mix (featuring last week’s Herb 118, M. Sage no less) which captures the travelogue of a working photographer, the inner life soundtrack.
To close it out, I asked an old friend
who has a blooming photography practice (and a wonderful substack called Process) about Dorsa, whose work he recently featured in Amsterdam, he had this to say:Daniel Dorsa’s “The Sun Was Gold Like A Yolk Dripping” is a captivating series that draws you in with its quiet beauty. As I move through the images, I find myself absorbed in the personal yet universal moments he captures. Each photograph is infused with emotion, yet always leaving ample space to project our feelings and interpretations. Much like a song with ambiguous lyrics, Daniel’s work allows us to find our own meaning within it. This ability to inspire a personal connection to art is precisely what makes Daniel’s work so special.
Have this playing as my work music today!
I sincerely love the breadth of your friends and their playlists, but have to say I always SO look forward to seeing Michael Cina’s new accompanying artwork every week….its just so good. Thank you!