the first day I met katrina… I had a phone call with faye orlove later that day about my exhibition @ junior high—one of the last ones she’d be around for as the head. it felt like things were coming together for me, finally. I’d been photographing events for worklife, submission beauty, zomoz mezcal, and other odd little gigs. there seemed to be so much trajectory. there seemed to be a path forward. that was in 2023.
it's 2026. I feel no different, worse if anything. but on that specific day (6/23/23), I had optimism. and it would carry me.
sometimes I wish I had documented the spaces themselves so I can get a look at all the little details that make up the person. I’m in my archives going through the last session she and I had. the pink sofa across from the door, the coffee table with an unfinished jigsaw puzzle in front of it. in the corner stand—an angel’s shohei ohtani bobblehead (she had roommates, I refuse to believe katrina roots for the angels. at the very least, she’s just an ohtani stan).
inside her room, 2023: above her bed, amidst a variety of postcards and a miss roebling sash, fiona apple’s “fetch the boltcutters” vinyl record with a long dagger just below it.
on the opposite wall:”thot tactics” by jpegmafia, more postcards, a watercolor print of a woman in bed (tits out) masturbating with her laptop open, and a junior high business card. we went over our estimated time so I took that call with faye in katrina’s kitchen, next to the white tile countertop.
when I saw katrina again on 5/03/26, the only familiar thing I saw still hung up somewhere was this odd painting of baby cabbage—as in two baby heads wrapped in cabbage on a cutting board.
inside her room now, more things are in frames. little art pieces and the like. but the photobooth strips, the disposable camera prints, the letters dating back from 2019 and beyond... those are taped up. memories with so much sentiment, you gotta just have them up right away.
"I can't wait to grow old knowing and loving you. you're beauty incarnate and my life is richer with you in it"
katrina played at genghis cohen on 4/04/25 shortly before it would move from it's location of 42 years. brookelen opened for her, singing about jesus (unless I misinterpreted the song). rabbit rabbit rabbit also performed a set. lily read poetry. there was also a magic show—it truly was the phantom thread ep release show extravaganza that it was advertised as.
I'd never seen katrina live. my schedule would never line up, I'd forget to buy tickets, I'd be too tired—all the excuses possible. I knew it was a special show though. I had to be there.
I showed up maybe an hour too early. she was already there but talking to so many of her friends. I hate to interrupt, especially when the only time we've ever seen each other was that first time we took photos two years prior. I wound up walking down to melrose and loudly made voice messages to taylor to kill time, exaggerating so someone had a funny story to submit to @overheardla
at the show, I sat in the corner booth. the room crowding as the show went along. I had to stand on my seat to see the stage towards the end.
"am I just a pit in your plum?"
sung by a bunch of twenty-somethings. they knew bar after bar. call it friends being supportive but you know it's more than that. you know how hard it is to get people to come to your show? and if you suck, forget about it. these are people who love her. love her lyricism. love her playing. love her singing. love her kindness. love her wardrobe of dresses and collared shirts. love her big smile. love her joy as she stands there on stage chasing this shit.
katrina is a pure being.
people show up for her because who better to uplift than the woman who does the same to everyone else's spirit?
before we started taking photos, after I drained the piss I carried from the valley to her bathroom, we shared a moment drinking tea by her window. the mug warming my palms. her presence warming my soul. I didn't even care to take photos at all anymore.
this was everything.
