The Proust Questionnaire with Artist & Photographer Ophelia Mikkelson Jones


There’s nothing rushed about the way Ophelia Mikkelson Jones lives. Her days are stitched together slowly by hand and by heart with the same care she brings to her art. A camera always nearby. Music drifting from the kitchen. A photograph taken not for show, but for safekeeping.

She speaks with quiet clarity about the things that matter: growing food, raising her son, sleeping deeply, being kind. Her home on the New Zealand coast is not just a setting, but a collaborator - the light, the sea and the rhythms of family life all folded into the way she works.

In this conversation, Ophelia reflects on the beauty of the unpolished and the meaningful weight of small rituals from green eyes and old songs to wedding rings with long histories. A soft kind of strength runs through it all.

Photography by @basvanest

1. What is your current state of mind?

Still and open. 

2. How do you switch off?

I listen to music and dance in the kitchen.

3. What is the trait you most admire in others?

Gentless, kindness and openness.

4. Which living person do you most admire?

My mother.

5. What is your greatest extravagance?

Designing my life and work to be with my husband and son everyday. 

6. What is the first thing that you do when you wake in the morning?

Soak up the warmth of the bed and take it into the day. 

7. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Responsiveness— having the answer right then and there. 

8. Do you have any daily rituals?

I love to take photographs everyday.

9. What do you most like about your appearance?

I like that my eyes are green.

10. What does wellbeing mean to you?
Breathing deeply, eating wholey, sleeping at length.

11. What is the quality you most like in a person?

Kindness and consistency.

12. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I get songs stuck deeply in my head. One will get stuck and I will just let the first line out time and time again for weeks. 

13. What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Ryder and Emanuel. 

14. When and where are you happiest?

In the sun, in the ocean, dancing, cooking, taking pictures of people that I love and being tucked in bed between my boys. 

15. Which talent would you most like to have?

I'd love to be able to sing. Imagine that! 

16. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would like to be tidier. To have a place for everything. 

17. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

My marriage, and growing and birthing our son. 

18. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

A dolphin.

19. Where would you most like to live?

I am very happy in our little home where we are but for the sake of the question— I'd love to spend an extended time on a tropical island. Maybe Kauai where Ryder was born. 

20. What is your most treasured possession?

My wedding ring, which was Ryder's mothers. It was made in Hawaii where his parents lived and were married. And the fish I wear around my neck. Ryder gave it to me when I was pregnant. Ruby eyes for protection. 

21. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Feeling helpless.

22. What is your favourite occupation?

Taking photographs of people I love.

23. What is your most marked characteristic?

I hope that it is being caring.

24. What do you most value in your friends?

Laughter, joy, comfort. 

25. Who are your favourite writers?

Ocean Vuong, Niall Williams, Ryder Jones. 

26. Who is your hero of fiction?

The mice from Brambly Hedge. They are so in tune with the seasons— spending their days cooking, helping their neighbours, having picnics in the flowers and being kindly. And their homes are always cosy, cluttered and homely in a way that I love. 

27. Which historical figure do you most identify with?

In my art practice I have always looked up to Sophie Calle. I identify with her in the way that the making/seeing doesn't stop. That is all encompassing. It lives in the home, street and in people or actions. 

28. Who are your heroes in real life?

People who speak up for peace. 

29. What are your favourite names?

My son and I share a middle name which I love: Astor. 

30. What brings pleasure to your day?

Good food and sunshine. My sons laugh.

31. Do you have any products or objects that you can’t live without?

My camera. 

32. Where is your favourite place to wake up in the world?

Naoshima Island.  

33. What is your motto?

Always be kind.


Follow @opheliaafm
ophelia-ryder.com

“In the sun, in the ocean, dancing, cooking, taking pictures of people that I love and being tucked in bed between my boys.”

Ophelia on when she is happiest