Matthew Dekneef

2 months ago | fluxhawaii.com | Matthew Dekneef

Despite being born and raised on the island of Oʻahu, there was a time when the word “aloha” seemed to leave a strange aftertaste on my tongue—unfamiliar and disingenuous. I once believed this discomfort stemmed from not being of Native Hawaiian descent, thinking that the language simply wasn’t meant for me. But looking back, I realize that my unease wasn’t about the word itself; rather, a reflection of how I had distanced myself from the culture and language of the place I call home.

Nov 12, 2024 | nytimes.com | Matthew Dekneef |Mariko Reed

ON A SUNDAY afternoon in Honolulu in the mid-1950s, a local psychiatrist, Linus Pauling Jr., visited Vladimir Ossipoff at home to discuss a project that he hoped the architect would consider building for his family. Pauling, then in his early 30s, found the master of Hawaiian Modernism sitting on the floor repairing a paper lamp by another great midcentury designer, Isamu Noguchi.

Apr 14, 2024 | taustralia.com.au | Matthew Dekneef |Hollie Wornes

In Hawaii, shops that serve shave ice, domes of pillowy-soft ice slivers doused in colorful syrups, vie for ubiquity with other local staples like poke places or lei stands. And you can count on waiting in line: Part of a shave ice shop’s charm is the scramble of people — surfers, construction workers, tourists — you’re certain to find there, all working out which syrups to order once they make it to the front.

Apr 10, 2024 | nytimes.com | Matthew Dekneef

In Hawaii, shops that serve shave ice, domes of pillowy-soft ice slivers doused in colorful syrups, vie for ubiquity with other local staples like poke places or lei stands. And you can count on waiting in line: Part of a shave ice shop's charm is the scramble of people - surfers, construction workers, tourists - you're certain to find there, all working out which syrups to order once they make it to the front.

Mar 26, 2024 | fluxhawaii.com | Matthew Dekneef |Arriana Veloso

Images by Brandyn LiuThe filmmaker Emily May Jampel loves a good park. “Part of the reason I live in my questionably unhealthy-for-my-life apartment is because it’s super close to one,” she says of Prospect Park, the urban green space that is home to Brooklyn’s only lake. For the Honolulu-born writer-director, this proximity to nature is a necessary housing requirement that’s only grown in its urgency the longer she’s lived away from the islands.