The current book weighs in at a mere 200 or so pages, with “only” 176 photos, but while it may not be as comprehensive as the book of last year, it is still quite a beauty and has instantly propelled itself to the top of my favorite Moriyama books. (Takuno 1987, now hard to find, tops this list, if you’re curious). Outside of photographs that accompany an interview with Moriyama at the beginning of the book, as well as those few that accompany some essays at the back of the book, the vast majority of photographs have been printed full-bleed, one to a page. Given that this is an A4-sized book (8.5 x 11.5 inches roughly, for those in the US), it makes for a sumptous offering. (And truth be told, the paper is of a thicker and nicer quality than the Rathole book).

Every Moriyama outing is full of grain and tilted camera angles and stray animals, and there is plenty of that to go around here. But somehow these Hokkaido photographs come dripping with even more texture and pathos. Falling snow looks more like little pinholes in a distressed 35mm film negative, and the more open-space quality of Hokkaido, as opposed to the normal Tokyo stomping grounds of Moriyama, effuses much of the work with a reflective loneliness.

In addition to the book, there is a 58-minute DVD of an interview with Moriyama on the soundtrack while a slideshow of the Hokkaido work plays. Essentially the interview is the same as that which appears in the book (both in Japanese only), but many of the photos included in the slideshow do not appear in the current volume, creating a real value add.

Northern is for sale in the Japan Exposures bookshop.

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1. Recent Moriyama documentary at Youtube First 9 mi
2. Masashi Otomo Masashi O
3. Sachiko Kadoi – Birch & Paper Mill, Nayoro, Hokkaido 2004 Sachiko K

Wakaba Noda was born in 1984 in Fukuoka, Japan. She went to Sweden as an exchange student while in high school — “I saw very nice Astrid Lindgren movie when I was little and so I was always interested in Sweden”, says Noda — and since 2006 has been a photography student at Gothenburg University. After graduating from there this summer, Noda plans to return to Japan.

The above work is taken from Noda’s “Blink”, a series of diptychs. This series was given an honorable mention by famed critic Kotaro Iizawa at the 2006 Canon “New Cosmos of Photography” competition. About this work, Noda says that she “tried to make the physical body reaction (blink) into a photographic image. To blink is something that we can not really control. (Of course we can blink intentionally.) I wondered and visualized what I am missing in the little moment when I blink. So that is why I used two pictures to show a little difference and moment between there.”

Related posts:

1. Kozo Miyoshi – from Shiogama Urato series Kozo Miyos
2. Masahiro Kodaira – from Dr. Lorentz’s Butterfly series Masahiro
3. Masahiro Kodaira Gallery Japan Expo

Tambay (The Watchman) {click to enlarge}

Text and images by Michael G Dougan for Japan Exposures

Let me start by saying that I like folding cameras. In fact, I like them so much that between the 59 cameras I own, there are quite a few folders. When I got curious about film photography one of the first serious cameras I bought was an Agfa Super Isolette, then a Balda and a Certo Six and to round it off a Zeiss Super Ikonta. There is just something about these old mechanical cameras that I love.

So, when Fujifilm/Cosina Voigtländer announced the Bessa 667/GF670 Professional I wanted one badly. I’ve long preferred the square format but have recently been looking for a camera with a different aspect ratio and this camera satisfied my love of all things square while offering an alternative by being able to switch to 6×7 when desired.

Fujifilm GF670 Professional next to a Rolleiflex and Leica M6

As advertised the camera weighs in at 1kg but in operation it feels quite a lot less. Though when the camera is folded up it certainly feels like a lump, just not a 1kg lump. Once the lens has been extended the impression is of a very light camera.

In operation I immediately felt very comfortable with this camera, to me it feels very like a Leica to use, the focus is smooth and the aperture ring is easily and quickly adjusted. The built in light meter also takes the guesswork out of the exposures as with the old folders.

Since acquiring the camera I’ve shot it exclusively in 6 by 7 format and I like the opportunities it gives for framing over a square format. The shutter is extremely quiet, quiet enough to use in covertly but carrying a camera like this does attract a lot of inquisitive looks and questions from people.

Vulcanizing {click to enlarge}

Love-Kim Verlie {click to enlarge}

The body on the right hand side has a very grippy rubber coating and grip on the front and back of the body. The left hand side is coated with the same rubber on the front of the body only but as I tend to cradle the underside of the body and lens standard with my left hand the grip is only of use for opening the camera. This way my thumb is in the perfect position to operate the focus and aperture rings. Focus and selection of aperture are achieved extremely quickly, this is a big plus for me as I try to quickly capture people before they have time to pose for the camera. The viewfinder is excellent, very bright with a nice contrasty rangefinder patch that allows you to achieve focus quickly.

I’m also extremely pleased with the camera’s image quality. I find it hard to say what it is but the images from the camera have a certain signature from the 80mm Fujinon EBC lens but maybe people more familiar with other Fuji lenses might say that is the signature of such lenses. It’s sharp, contrasty and the fuzzy bits just melt into the background beautifully.

You can see some samples of the type of photos I enjoy taking, which is out on the streets. I am living in the Philippines and it’s currently the monsoon season, which means it’s stinking hot and raining a lot! I was walking for less than an hour in the afternoon sun and the camera never felt heavy or a pain to carry. Here under these tropical conditions even a Leica can become irritating as you soon fatigue in the sun. The camera got extremely hot in the one hour I was out but the focus still had the same feeling of operation. With some my cameras they get a bit sloppy when they overheat, but this GF670 camera has been super smooth all the time, quick and easy to nail the focus, and the viewfinder’s clarity is excellent!

With the GF670 in my hands and several rolls of Neopan 120 in my pocket, it’s a perfect setup for me.

Life in a plastic chair {click to enlarge}

Break Time {click to enlarge}

Update 28 June 2009: More images below

Bigasan {click to enlarge}

Dried fish {click to enlarge}

Friends forever {click to enlarge}

In the street {click to enlarge}

Mega Buko Juice at the Hard Rock Café {click to enlarge}

Tommy {click to enlarge}

Videoke for rent {click to enlarge}

Four Women and a Boy {click to enlarge}

All black and white images were shot on Fujifilm Neopan 400 Presto, developed in paRodinal 1+50 for 11mins at 20 degrees C. Location: San Miguel, Bulacan, The Philippines

Related posts:

1. Update on release of Fujifilm GF670 Professional We have ju
2. Release of Fujifilm GF670 Professional delayed until end of April We have ju
3. Ginza Classics At most tr

A customer in Malaysia, who is obviously privileged enough to be given a private view of a final pre-production model of the forthcoming Olympus E-P1, sends us the above photo. In it you see a Carl Zeiss ZM Planar 50/2 mounted on the E-P1 by means of a Rayqual Leica M-M4/3 adapter for Leica M lenses.

He comments further:

The focusing is great because of the 3″ screen, plus you have the zoom function like the G1. In certain ways it is better than the G1…. the face detection works very well even with this manual lens. Without an EVF it is a bit odd and needs getting used to but it is a very solid camera though. Just imagine… an 100mm f2 ( 50mm x 2) image stabilized lens… this is mind blowing… the Rayqual really feels like a piece of precision engineering.

Looks like this will be an exciting year for M4/3.

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1. Introducing Rayqual lens adapters We are ple
2. Rayqual releases Nikon F and Contax/Yashica to Micro 4/3 lens adapter Ahead of
3. Availability of Rayqual Leica M-M4/3 adapter for Leica M lenses We have ju

Our Equipment Sourcing Service is proving increasingly popular and we are getting good attention from the Tokyo used camera dealers on behalf of our clients. But sometimes there is an item too good to miss, but without a current client mandate. Therefore we have started to pick up these items anyway and offer them in the Japan Exposures Web Shop with the hope of finding them a new owner that way.

From Hello Kitty Polaroids to the now legendary Fujipet toy camera, you can find an initial listing of interesting items in the newly created category Exotics. Give it a browse to be enticed and check back once in a while for any updates.

Of course, Equipment Sourcing will still be there for those who know what they want and items that you want us to search for.

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1. New Shop I have ha
2. Introducing Rayqual lens adapters We are ple
3. Shipping quotes now available As you kno

We are also featuring Hoshi as one of our Cover Artists.

Related posts:

1. Haruto Hoshi Haruto Ho
2. Masahiro Kodaira Gallery Japan Expo
3. Sachiko Kadoi Gallery Japan Expo

Haruto Hoshi was born in 1970 in Kanagawa prefecture. He graduated from the Contemporary Photography Research Institute in 2000. He has published his first book 街の火 (Luminance of the City) in 2007 and is represented by the Third District Gallery Tokyo. Please also see this extended gallery of his work.

Related posts:

1. Haruto Hoshi Gallery Japan Expo
2. Nobuhiro Fukui – Juxtaposition Nobuhiro
3. Takayuki Igarashi – From the Series “Codes of Desire” Takayuki

Ahead of scheduled July 2009 Rayqual has released the two announced adapters for the Micro-Four-Thirds system (such as Panasonic Lumix G1 and the speculated digital Olympus Pen F).

As always these high quality MADE IN JAPAN adapters are made to high quality standards and allow photographers and cinematographers to reliably and precisely mount their Nikon F and Contax/Yashica lenses on modern digital bodies.

Pentax K, Olympus OM and Leica R versions will follow suit in August.

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2. Introducing Rayqual lens adapters We are ple
3. Rayqual M4/3 adapters on the Olympus E-P1 A custome

I am trying to stay principled about my photography, I really do, but more often than not I feel overtaken by reality or some other realisation catching up. To counterbalance my previous insights about keeping things interesting here is another aspect well worth noting.

When we are younger and finances are tight, there is quite naturally a limitation about changing things around in your photo world. A new camera, a bigger camera, multiple cameras, these things are a financial impossibility and we had to save for a long time to purchase that one single camera we wanted. That also made us think thoroughly whether it would be the right move and a lasting choice. Nowadays with slightly more money at disposal (subject to wife approval of course) and also rapidly declining prices of classic film cameras and used digital cameras, it is a lot easier and tempting to jump at a piece of new equipment on impulse.

If you want to change your photographs, you need to change cameras. Changing cameras means that your photographs will change. A really good camera has something I suppose you might describe as its own distinctive aura.

– Nobuyoshi Araki

While it may give us new creative impetus as I have written in the past, I have recently also noticed a very negative effect which will make me a lot more cautious in the future: Camera Shock. When I get interested in a new piece of equipment, a new technique, a new subject matter perhaps it disrupts my previous work to a great degree.

Now, this is not always bad, but imagine you have been in a good creative groove for a while, followed by a slight natural slump when you could argue the real work is starting. At that point, when things get a little sticky, it is tempting to divert your attention to something new. It is the path of least resistance. The problem is that New will absorb your energies for a time to come as you will immerse yourself with the new and naturally interesting, with the consequence to loose track of what you have been working on previously, before it had a chance to become your best.

As photographers the search of the most suitable piece of equipment will never be separable from the medium of photography itself, but unless we are fully aware of the implications and carefully manage ourselves consciously it may do more harm than good and hold us back in our overall development.

Obviously all this is easier said than done, but perhaps our ability to maintain the required discipline is an indicator of how serious we really are about our photography, whether we see it as our mission to produce imagery to show to the world, or whether we are simply entertaining ourselves.

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Following the DNP films we have added another inexpensive film to our selection: Fujicolor Industrial Color Negative Film.

The film comes in very plain packaging and is available in 100 and 400 speed and is an all-purpose colour negative film for general use. Available in packs of ten or higher quantities on request.

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1. Developing color negative film with the Naniwa Colorkit N When I too
2. Negative News Shinagawa,
3. Fujifilm to increase negative film and paper prices Fujifilm h