The PHOTO OP series — to which SEMIOVOX has invited our semiotician colleagues from around the world to contribute — analyzes photos that we’ve snapped while “off the job.”

The ever-changing landscape of my desk gives the visual part of my brain something to chew on while I’m preoccupied with tasks that involve reading, writing, project management, or even accountancy.

January 2023. Having done some interesting shopper research for LEGO in the run up to Christmas ’22, I rapidly acquired my own collection. I found that single-tile pieces were the easiest to lose and the hardest to keep track of; that’s when I had the idea of sticking them to a white base board which I could file vertically. There’s a semblance of order here, with neutral colours at one end of the board, followed by stripes of yellow, orange, green and purple. (Inevitably, odd pieces would turn up as I worked. Lots of googly eyes. Pieces with multi-coloured stripes that didn’t fit in anywhere. Random yellow and orange pieces would show up long after I thought I’d finished with those colours.) I enjoy looking at this board; the underlying system is what makes the misplaced pieces interesting.

July 2023. Using this two-layer box of pens is like using a box of chocolates. I survey the tantalising, colourful items, then select the exact one that suits my needs at that moment. All the pens you see here are fountain pens, which I love because I can choose my own ink — and enjoy the rituals of filling and cleaning them. On any given day, about 10-12 pens are in use and all the ink colours correspond to a different type of work. Green for billable projects, yellow for social media planning, orange for live events, purple for strategy….

October 2023. This photo was taken late at night. I can tell by looking at it that I had loads of work on, I was a bit stressed, and was looking for ways to soothe my busy brain with an intricate, themed collection. In the foreground there’s a Halloween LEGO model featuring pumpkins, a black cat, and a mouse; this probably took a few minutes to build, perhaps in two or three stages — little intervals punctuating a larger, longer task of writing a big PowerPoint deck or staring at a spreadsheet. There are some autumnal conkers in the foreground too, which tells me that I’d managed to go for a few lunchtime walks. The rolls of tape featuring ghosts and spiders are functional as well as decorative: ‘Washi tape’ is removable and reusable, it comes in every colour of the rainbow, and I use it to divide sections in the giant desk journal that contains all my daily work. The small boxes at the back contain bottles of fountain pen ink; I can see that I went through my collection of inks and pulled out seasonally appropriate ones.

PHOTO OP: Mariane Cara (Brazil) on LA LUCHA CONTINUA | Aiyana Gunjan (India) on YAMRAJ | Greg Rowland (England) on I ❤️ FOOD | Gabriela Pedranti (Spain) on NOT SO TRIVIAL | Biba Allarakia (Saudi Arabia) on ALL THAT GLITTERS | Brian Khumalo (South Africa) on A LOST MEMORY | Becks Collins (England) on A MILLENNIAL ON THE BRINK | Samuel Grange (France) on SLOW DOWN | Rachel Lawes (England) on DESKTOP COLLECTIONS | Marie Lena Tupot (USA) on BOX OFFICE | Sónia Marques (Portugal) on SWISS-NESS | Serdar Paktin (Turkey / England) on BOTTLE SERVICE | Stefania Gogna (Italy) on OPEN-AIR MUSEUM | Charles Leech (Canada) on IS IT IRONIC? | Kishore Budha (England) on DOWN THE TUBE | Josh Glenn (USA) on JOINED AT THE DIP | Mark Lemon (England) on SHOP LOCAL | William Liu (China) on SWAN SONG | Malcolm Evans (Wales) on CHOCOCRACK | Paulina Goch-Kenawy (Poland) on POLAND’S NEW (HI)STORY | Adelina Vaca (Mexico) on WHAT’S YOUR POISON? | Natasha Delliston (England) on NATURE BATHING | Ramona Lyons (USA) on DEATH TO TECH | Victoria Gerstman (England) on TBD | Ximena Tobi (Argentina) on TBD.

Also see these international semio series: COVID CODES | SEMIO OBJECTS | MAKING SENSE | COLOR CODEX | DECODER | CASE FILE