One of my recent photos was included in this month’s Japanzine, a free monthly magazine targeted at foreigners living in Japan. [online version]. They put out a call for photos made by foreigners living here, photographs that do not conform to the standard impressions of Japan, i.e. the tourist and overly romantic Japan shots. Why they felt they still had to include images of pachinko parlours, Mt. Fuji, hanabi and the like, I cannot quite fathom.
All posts by Dirk
a nice slice of life
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Two Sundays
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We were invited to a tea ceremony by our friend Satoko (nicknamed Frau Sugane by me) who is doing this as a hobby. I always find it nice to hear that people do traditional things like these as a hobby, for example Naomi recently started Ikebana and we always have a nice flower in the hallway. But back to the tea ceremony. Apparently the teacher of this tea house is quite famous, it is near Mitaka, I have to check the exact location. Once a year they hold an event, where they show visitors what they have learned. Since I hadn’t seen it in Japan, I was keen to go and I enjoyed the two sessions and of course the interior and surroundings of the actual house.
Afterwards we went towards the station and as a snack stopped at this yakitori place, which was full of people, even though it was only afternoon. When I looked at the photos later I realised that even though this was the same day, those things going on in parallel are quite intriguing. First the quiet and graceful tea ceremony, and then the loud and smoky yakitori-ya-san. Then it occurred to me that these seem really like male or female aspects of life, apart from the fact that the customers or guests at those locations were also in reality mostly male or female. I just found this a nice aspect of Japan, that these things can and do co-exist. It is the same day, however one might think these were Two Sundays.
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Today is “Shashin no Hi”, the Day of the Photograph in Japan. My modest research skills in Japanese bring to light, that this day is held since 1996, with the intention to spread and grow photographic culture. Many shows and exhibitions take place during the core months May and June. Probably the Museum of Photography in Ebisu is a good place to start, or one of the many galleries and salons in Ginza, which is where I heard of it.
At lunchtime I pop into the Kodak salon from time to time. I have no real connection to Kodak, using none of their products, except lens cleaning paper maybe. But the Kodak and Canon salons are within walking distance from the office and shows change frequently, making it a nice diversion. In gallery 2 was a captivating series of images of a child, maybe the photographer’s son in different places or doing different things. Each frame on the wall actually consisted of one or two series of 5 or 10 images. In a way these are sequences of images, possibly taken with a 4.5 x 6 medium format camera, vertical format (maybe a MF rangefinder then). They are fairly small and arranged looking a little like contact strips. Unfortunately the show ends soon, but I recommend looking at it, because it is rare that what often ends up as family photos can rise up into the spheres of art. I wouldn’t have thought that it would work and I am surprised it does.
On the way out I notice the flyer for this year’s World Press Photo. I have to admit I haven’t been touched by an image for a while like I have been by winner Jean-Marc Bouju’s photo of “Iraqi man comforts his son at a holding center for prisoners of war”. It’s good to know that there are still moving images and people out there to get them. What could be better on the Day of the Photograph?
fashionable young white dude
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Special Magic
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Cognitive dissonance
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