Photographers Jada and David Parrish will build a custom set inside their truck bed and drive across the U.S. photographing the same studio against changing landscapes. The project tests how controlled studio work interacts with uncontrollable landscape conditions.
They will build a compact, durable set inside a Toyota Tacoma truck bed and photograph it across roughly 7,500 miles of U.S. terrain.
The project pairs studio-style control (set design, lighting) with landscape constraints (sun, weather, terrain), forcing solutions like moving the truck to change composition.
Design priorities include visual presence vs. portability, weather resistance, and a color palette that works across deserts, mountains, coasts, and forests.
# Project overview In September the photographers Jada and David Parrish are launching "All About the Journey": a cross‑country photo project that converts their Toyota Tacoma into a mobile studio. They will build a custom set to fit in the truck bed, drive about 7,500 miles, and photograph that same set against many landscapes — mountains, deserts, salt flats, red rocks, forests, and coastlines.
# Why this project matters for photographers
# Practical constraints shaping the work The set must physically fit and survive inside a Tacoma truck bed for the entire trip. That creates specific constraints:
Lighting is another central challenge. The team must provide artificial light for the set while working across varying elevations, weather conditions, and times of day. They cannot control sunlight, cloud cover, or sudden weather changes, so the lighting approach must be adaptable.
# Creative approach and constraints as a method Instead of hiding these constraints, the Parrishes are embracing them. The set will be designed to hold visual weight in a frame while allowing the surrounding landscape to remain an active element. Because they can't move a mountain or dial down the sun, the project emphasizes improvisation on location: adjusting truck placement, set angle, lighting balance, and timing to make each image work.
The build phase is imminent, and figuring out the balance between studio control and landscape variability is one of the project's biggest creative problems.
# What viewers should expect Expect a series of images where a consistent, human‑made stage appears within diverse environments. Each photograph will show the same constructed scene interacting with different light, color, and spatial conditions. The results will reveal how much a single, transportable set can hold its own visually across a range of natural backdrops, and what compromises are necessary when studio control meets travel logistics.
# Why this will interest photographers and designers The project is practical and instructional. It tests transportable set design, on‑the‑road lighting solutions, and creative problem solving under shifting constraints. Readers interested in location work, small‑scale set builds, or hybrid projects that cross studio and landscape practice will find concrete lessons about material choice, color planning, and the operational limits of photographing a vehicle‑bound set.
# Next steps and timeline
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