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A farm house in Tsukushino, Abiko
I am slowly getting to grips with the view camera. Slowly. For now I divide my photos between static “conventional” shots like this one, and sometimes a little more daring attempts, which usually fail. Most recently this is mostly due to focussing errors, which is not too surprising because of the shallow depth of focus and the inability to verify correct focus immediately. With more technique and discipline, this should be resolved though.
Processing the film has improved tremendously, thanks to a little frame I have assembled myself to hold 8 sheets in place while processing them in a tray in the dark. I was wary about the working in complete darkness bit, but I have gotten used to it and see it now as some sort of meditation. I still have some stains on the negatives, maybe from fingerprints and there is an issue of dust (this photo here is completely unedited, just some curves applied). (Update: I could not resist cleaning it up a little bit more in the sky area).
Very nice. This is what I was talking about on the phone last week.
I think where you excel in your photography of Japan is that you have realized that you do not fit in the photo, you are not part of the landscape if you will.
Other foriegn photographers regardless of genre try to put a piece of themselves in the photos or they try to become a Japanese artist and try to see Japan as a Japanese person would. This to me contaminates their work and gives it the feel that the photo was fabricated, just as if it were pieced together or shot in a hollywood studio.
The amazing point of your photography of Japan is the purity and integrity of the scene you are able to maintain. It is truely as if that instant in all its purity was transposed on to paper.
Thanks for the great compliment, Paul. Much appreciated.
However I do think I am in all those photos… but what role am I really playing, I wonder?
Everyone wants credit for doing what they do, that is what keeps people motivated…that and money.
To observer of the photo we realize that you are “a part of the photo” without having it thrown in our face like a PEPSI logo in a movie. After all you gave birth to the photo. Which is a bit different than being the architecht of the photo.
That is why I say you maintain the integrity of the scene. I see what you see, not what I think you wanted me to see.