I’m sorry I haven’t posted much recently. I think the winter has got me lazy and feeling uncreative. The days are starting to get a bit sunnier and I’m feeling creative again.
I’ve shot a few 120 rolls of some nice shrines and temples that I want to post, in addition to many photos from my New Years trip to Korea still!
This is a 1,100 year old tree. It is on the grounds of a shrine in my city that has another 1,100 and a 1,400 year old tree!
A number of shrines and temples around my city have these ancient trees which are designated as special by the city and protected. What makes me sad and angry however is that Japanese towns and cities have very few trees compared to cities and towns in many western countries. The Japanese apparently cut them down and clear them out to build their claustrophobically close houses, apartments, and shops. While there are some small trees, if you go up into the hills as I often do and look down on a typical Japanese town, they look rather baron.
Given the number of ancient trees at shrines (I know of at 5 which are an easy bike ride from my apt), it’s fairly reasonable to conclude that this area that I live in should be full of ancient trees … but it isn’t. This makes me feel frustrated because the Japanese often have rather contradictory philosophies and practices. These contradictions often seem greater than the contradictions in my own culture. The Japanese try to "harmonize" with nature as many books about Japanese culture will point out. However there clearly make significant efforts to clear nature right out of towns and cities.
I shot this back in November when the spiders around here were at their peak. There was a nice, yellow, low evening sun shining at a peaceful shrine where this spider had set up his home next to a small stone basin where people wash their hands.
落ち葉は風を恨まない。(Ochiba wa kaze o uramanai)
“The fallen leaf bears the wind no grudge.”
The other week I posted about an amazing find at a flea market - a great condition 1955 Ricohflex camera for only 4,000 yen! I shot some photos with it and I LOVE it! It has that old-time look to it. Only half of the lens elements are coated, so it can offer decent clarity, but at the same time it seems a bit weak on contrast and has some little distortion and vignetting towards the edges. These are vintage characteristics that I love.
The camera is difficult to use with limited shutter speeds and a rather dim focus screen that offers double images on bright scene elements (some kind of internal reflection), and no filter threads or mounts. But that is why I love vintage cameras. It puts responsibility for getting a nice photo squarely into my hands with no electronics or motors or light meters making any decisions for me. It is PURELY mechanical and up to my skills.
I shot the following photos without a light meter - I just made my best guess. I shot on Tri-X which itself offers a more classic film look than some of the more modern engineered films.
This is one of the two schools that I teach at. It is an agricultural school which has many greenhouses and fields (not in view) where students learn to cultivate plants. Students also learn about landscaping and food preparation. It is set towards the edge of my town and has a nice view of the hills just to the North.
This is the last one I am posting from this set. I really love the mood and feel of this photo.
For this matsuri I got in close for a lot of photos. Not having many modern items visible in my photos gave some of them an old-Japan feel.
More backlogged photos from this summer. I love Japanese summer matsuri (festivals.) They are really fun, beautiful, and keep history alive. I wish parades in the U.S. were 1/10th this cool.
Photos from the Hamasaki Gion Matsuri this past summer (I am REALLY behind on posting!!!)
The different areas of the small town of Hamasaki each build a very tall float which is then pulled through town to a shrine and spun around as prayers are offered.
It is a very festive time and people living there often have big feasts and sometimes invite strangers in apparently (similar to the neighboring town of Karatsu during that town’s big festival.) I was invited into a Japanese guy’s home where they gave me lots of food and wouldn’t stop pouring me beers. They called it their first "international" festival because I was the first "foreigner" (a word the Japanese use WAY to much) guest.
Despite not liking how much the Japanese use the word "foreigner", I had a great time and appreciated the hospitality. My photos suffered a bit from my drinking though -_-;
Fall comes later in Kyushu than back home. November is prime time to view the yellows and reds of the season … in the various forms these colors take …
I probably posted about these spiders last year. They start showing up in late Summer, spin insane webs between trees and powerlines, across rivers with support lines that run for meters and feel like fishing line they are so strong! Then they get really fat and colorful in November.
BTW - this was shot with a 50mm lens. I was about a hands-length away from this guy.
