Introducing Swiss Yankee

A note from me, Keith, as we get ready for what’s next

If we’ve known each other for any length of time, you already know this: the photos I take have never been “just photographs.” They’ve always been part of a bigger story; the field notes, the family threads, the Rhode Island corners (and sometimes other travels) that stay with you long after you’ve driven home.

For years, all of that lived quietly inside Made From RI. But lately, it’s been clear that the work wants to stretch a little. Grow a bit. Step out into the world in a more intentional way.

So I’m finally giving it a name: "Swiss Yankee."

It’s the new publishing imprint of Made From RI, yes,  but it’s also the way I see, the way I write, and the inheritance I’ve been carrying around without fully naming it.

And soon, you’ll start seeing it appear on books, ebooks, and other publications that gather the stories behind the images.

Let’s dive in a little deeper about what “Swiss Yankee” actually is.

A Method of Seeing

You know how it is: sometimes the smallest things are the ones that stay with you. A fencepost at Deep Hole, a ferry you almost miss on the horizon, or maybe a beach rose that’s given over to its plum.

Swiss Yankee is really just the name I’m giving to that kind of attention; the mix of clarity, structure, humor, and a Rhode Island cultural shrug that’s been guiding me all along.

A Style of Photography

If you’ve ever heard me talk about my grandfather, Adolph Wahl, you know he’s woven into all of this. He painted, he created murals, and he practiced the kind of calligraphy and elegant engrossing that requires a steady hand and a patient heart.

And before him, his own family worked Swiss ribbon looms in the very house where he was born. Precision wasn’t just a skill, it was the family air.

I think about that every time I frame a shoreline or wait for the light to shift. The photos that will show up in these upcoming books were never meant to be standalone images. They were always chapters in a longer story.

A Way of Writing

If you’ve followed my work, you know I don’t stick to one form. Swiss Yankee writing is a mix … photopoems, field notes, small essays … the shape the moment needs. These include quick, image‑anchored poems, the kind of notes you jot down before you forget the way the air felt, and short essays that hold a day in your hand for a minute.

It’s all part of the same practice: warm, measured, human, and rooted in both Swiss clarity and Rhode Island plainspokenness.

An Homage and an Inheritance

“Swiss Yankee” wasn’t a marketing brainstorm. It was what my grandfather used to call himself … half joking, half serious … after he immigrated, became a U.S. citizen, and folded his Swiss precision into his new life here.

That mix of humor, craft, and identity stuck with me. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how much of my own path has been shaped by that same blend. What he taught me didn’t stop at the edge of his workbench. It carried into my education … the college physics degree, the strict core curriculum at a college that, fittingly enough, grew in part because of his generosity.

And it carried into the years I spent sailing on ships, where precision isn’t optional and attention is a kind of survival. Out there, you learn quickly that the world rewards steadiness, patience, and the ability to read what’s in front of you … the same qualities he practiced with a brush, a pen, or a ribbon loom.

So this imprint isn’t just a way of honoring him or the ribbon‑makers before him. It’s a way of acknowledging all the pieces that shaped me too: the craft, the discipline, the education, the sea time, the belief that art … whether it’s a photograph, a poem, or a mural … should be both sturdy and generous.

Uniquely Rhode Island Made and on the way

Everything under Swiss Yankee is created here in Rhode Island. Not just physically, but spiritually, in the salt air, the small towns, the stubborn pride, the quiet beauty.

Over the next few months, you’ll start seeing the first Swiss Yankee publications:

• Books that gather the fieldwork and the stories behind them
• Ebooks that carry Rhode Island’s textures farther than the state line
• Collections that honor craft, heritage, and the everyday moments that deserve a second look

This is the natural next step for Made From RI. A widening of the circle and a chance to share the work the way it’s always wanted to be shared.

Swiss Yankee isn’t just an imprint brand. It’s a practice, a lineage, and a story I’m finally ready to tell out loud.

Regards, 

Keith

Made From RI

The Swiss Yankee logo (a publishing imprint of Made From RI) brings together Rhode Island’s Anchor of Hope, the camera that reflects our creative vision and craft, and the pen that links generations, from calligraphy and the ancient art of engrossing to the poetry we write today.