NEW YORK, NY.- Moving Still: A Cinematic Life Frame-by-Frame by Lauri Gaffin (Damiani Books, 2025) is a personal portrait of filmmaking from a celebrated American set decorator. With four decades of experience on set, Gaffin intertwines stunning behind-the-scenes photographs and intimate narrative to provide a rare glimpse into the fascinating world of cinema.
The book explores life on set for 13 productions from 1996-2019, highlighting indie gems like Fargo and blockbuster hits such as Charlie’s Angels, Iron Man, and Thor. Through her photographs and engaging anecdotes, Gaffin unveils the collaborative spirit that binds directors, actors, production designers, and crew members together. The contrast of her thriving career and complex emotional life are a throughline in the book. Gaffin's photography remains a steadfast beacon of inspiration even as she navigates the demands of production—deadlines, budgets, and politics—and her family’s escalating turmoil.
“This is a visual diary of my thirty-five years as a set decorator for feature films. It’s also, almost accidentally, a chronicle of the emotional life I led while pursuing success in the world of make-believe,” writes Gaffin. “I’ve always been an observer, and I love photography because no one can tell me how to feel when I look through the viewfinder. In the moment I click the shutter I give myself over to spontaneity and intuition, to perceive without judging myself or being judged. Photography is my language, it’s where I allow my internal life to come into focus.”
Highlights of the book include images and memories of filming Fargo in the “frozen silence and deep isolation of the north in winter,” a shock to the system for a Southern Californian; Gaffin’s realization that “my immersion in the frivolity of Charlie’s Angels was the antidote to the crises evolving within my family;” and creating banquet scenes for Thor from Target shopping sprees, “our lofty source for mythological-style cutlery—we bought thirty faux reindeer-antler carving sets. Nothing but the best for our gods and goddesses.”
As Britt Salvesen, Curator and Head of the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department and the Prints and Drawings Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, writes in the introduction, “Lauri’s guiding principles as a set decorator—beauty, emotion, clarity, truth, color, imagination—contribute to the overall success of the films highlighted in this book. The same qualities pervade the accompanying personal photographs… [Moving Still] is so much more than an illustrated filmography. It is a loving tribute to moviemaking and photography and a reflective account of self-discovery.”
Lauri Gaffin is an inventive set decorator and photographer with four decades of experience in the film industry. A Los Angeles-based artist, Gaffin’s work has been featured in numerous Hollywood films, both independent hits and blockbuster franchises, including Fargo, Six Days Seven Nights, Charlie’s Angels, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain Marvel, among many others.
Raised in Los Angeles, Gaffin earned her BA in Photography at UCLA, where she studied primarily with Robert Heinecken, as well as with artists Peter Goulds, Rita Yokoi, and filmmaker Shirley Clarke. She received an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 1977, mentored by conceptual artist John Baldessari and artist Lucas Samaras. At CalArts, she studied with Laurie Anderson, John Mandel, Mike Kelley, and Douglas Huebler. Gaffin’s work has been featured at Harris & Ruble Art, and is in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
