Hot Seats. Cool Shots. DWR celebrates its most iconic chairs with portrait-style photography of party goers

Keith York of Modern San Diego was the guest speaker, getting granular on chair history during a slide presentation and lecture. The self-professed chair nerd uncovered the origin stories and the evolution of the world’s most celebrated thrones including some Holy Grails from his own collection. Think Barcelona, the Womb, the Coconut. 

The highlight of the evening: The black-and-white portrait session of musical chairs conducted by esteemed photographer Paul Barnett. Party goers “sat” for Barnett in Eames Lounge Chair, the Womb, the Platner and others. It was intimate, and fun as he art directed guests to lean into their respective poses. 

“Paul’s photography captures the simplicity and enduring beauty of the chairs and the unique personality of each person,” says Hickman, who first tapped Barnett to lens her wedding 25 years ago. 

They became collaborators once more as Hickman dreamt up this experiential, informative event as only a true MCM lover could. After all, the ultimate expression is using design. Not talking about. 

“I am especially passionate about connecting people around brilliant art, architecture and design, and I feel that DWR La Jolla is the ideal space to bring that vision to life,” she says.