WORK • Tuesday Routine
GARY HE • photographer and writer • McAtlas
Neighborhood you work in: Williamsburg
It’s Tuesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I mostly work out of my home office, which is both a blessing and a curse. The privacy and quiet is amazing when I need to focus and there’s a large chunk of text to write, or dozens of photographs to tone. But during the research and administrative phases of my work, I’m prone to accidentally spending hours in a rabbit hole on YouTube or eBay, so I like going to a cafe like Win Son Bakery.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I’m self-publishing a 420-page book about McDonald’s localizations around the world called McAtlas (available for pre-order, thank you!), and I’m really close to sending the files to print. The proofs of the pages and fully bound samples have been coming in, so I’m reviewing them. If something is unsatisfactory, I’ll need to figure out what exactly in my digital file needs to be changed. There will be one more chance to make adjustments when I’m on the printing floor, but those are more like slight tweaks. So this part of the process is super-important.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
These days I leave my weeknights plan-free in case I need to work late, but also because I love a last minute plan, especially with my friend Robert, a restaurant critic. Recently we really enjoyed Kisa, a new Korean spot in the Lower East Side, and [and FOUND Restaurant of the Summer] Massara, the new hotness from the team behind Rezdôra. And I’m really fortunate to be friends with the people that run Roscioli NYC, the excellent import from Rome. Every weekend I’ll try to rope a friend that I haven’t seen in a while and grab some pasta and wine.
How about a little leisure or culture this week?
Anyone who tells you they have time to do this when they are self-publishing a book is a liar, lol. But I loved every minute of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Planning a European summer vacation around one of the remaining tour dates — ticket prices there are a fraction of the resale of the remaining North American shows — would not be a bad idea. (Please take me with you!)
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I love working on a laptop, but seeing photos and page spreads near full-size on my Apple Studio Monitor has been so helpful in determining if something actually looks good or terrible. Similarly, since the final product is going to be a book, seeing things on paper is helpful for making quality determinations. The Canon ImageCLASS color laser printer was pricey but worth it.
What NYC store or service do you love to recommend?
Browsing bookstores is still a real source of joy for me, and we have so many of them in the city to choose from: from the iconic Barnes and Noble in Union Square to the sexy McNally Jackson outposts, to the more indie ones (Spoonbill, Kitchen Arts & Letters, and The Strand). There’s something so magical about being able to touch and hold these reservoirs of information that were our longtime way of exchanging and preserving knowledge before the digital era.