The idea for "The Bench" series came to Kei as she was falling asleep one night in the fall of 2022. She had taken pictures at the bench at Beach Tower 27 on occasion over the years-- because of an interesting person there or interesting light in the sky. But she wondered what would appear if she visited consistently over a period. "I began a daily photo series on January 1st, with no constant in mind outside the bench itself, and chose to carry it through an entire year.
Kei takes photographs from the backside of the bench (mostly) but not form the exact same position, although that was her original intent. Each new daily photograph points to the temporary nature of the interactions we have with people and our environment.