Out of town till the end of June.
San Jose / San Francisco / Long Beach / Death Valley
D.I.Y or D.I.E
-Nomad Observer-
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Ms.Tanaka ...please try a Little More
No photos in this post, doesn't deserve it!
I pretty much know that I should better leave this alone and just go on in life as usual. I have a feeling that I will have to eat this up in the future but it's my blog so fuck it, and what's on the agenda is pretty interesting though sad. I had a couple of meetings with various book publishers here in Tokyo the last week, and what I learnt from these pretty weird encounters has really made me think. I guess (hope) this is a Japanese phenomena and not completely world wide. I have taken a pretty deep look of what's out there in forms of photography and there seems like the Japanese market really never had a market to start with and what it has and is around today is based of famous names (who made them famous?) and the like, the industry is a beauty isn't it? It's really seldom you find something that is based on photography as photography and not a theme or "topic" only. Quality photography is dead in Japan and it's thanks to the editors and book publishers that choose what to push out to the masses. Can hear it myself that I sound like a complaining bitch and that some of you may well think that I should just make my photography better then , adopt and go on. Well, it's not about me this time, It's not me I feel sorry for, it's about what we have put in front of us and slowly becoming a norm all by a chance. I had meetings with a couple of leading "cutting edge" book publishers, Little More is called one of the leading of the sort here in Tokyo. What I was shown while meeting the "editor" just made me.... disappointed and sad. Of course, if this innovator on the Japanese market set the norm and this is what they have to show there is not much for a guy like me here anymore. To completely be able to cut out all the beauty in photography and without looking a little bit deeper into what is within the frame really was something that I have seen coming but not in this scale...and I am a person with wide open eyes. Photography as flat, washed out and lifeless ideas mixed with thoughtless compositions and a quality lacking in all aspects. No respect to the photo within the image. In a way I am quite grateful to have the chance to meet a young (what is film photography...) striving yet blind business woman like Ms. Tanaka and that I am sure people in similar positions here in Japan will have worked the "Japanese style" into something new and inspiring for new comers in this "scene". We all know it's not photography, but who cares...? (I do, but I am just who I am...not enough)
I see this way of thinking in so many genres here in Japan, a place I actually really like living in. Music, The most fabulous musical instruments are made here but the users who learnt how to use then and make music into something beautiful / powerful with life baked in the mix is very seldom from here. The few japanese bands of musicians that has something of a talent can often not live on it since they are not given the chance by not being money makers and the masses needs something more simple and easy to digest. The music industry...industry? shouldn't this word alone be enough to make you start thinking? Get the point!?
Signing out /
Mattias Westfalk
I pretty much know that I should better leave this alone and just go on in life as usual. I have a feeling that I will have to eat this up in the future but it's my blog so fuck it, and what's on the agenda is pretty interesting though sad. I had a couple of meetings with various book publishers here in Tokyo the last week, and what I learnt from these pretty weird encounters has really made me think. I guess (hope) this is a Japanese phenomena and not completely world wide. I have taken a pretty deep look of what's out there in forms of photography and there seems like the Japanese market really never had a market to start with and what it has and is around today is based of famous names (who made them famous?) and the like, the industry is a beauty isn't it? It's really seldom you find something that is based on photography as photography and not a theme or "topic" only. Quality photography is dead in Japan and it's thanks to the editors and book publishers that choose what to push out to the masses. Can hear it myself that I sound like a complaining bitch and that some of you may well think that I should just make my photography better then , adopt and go on. Well, it's not about me this time, It's not me I feel sorry for, it's about what we have put in front of us and slowly becoming a norm all by a chance. I had meetings with a couple of leading "cutting edge" book publishers, Little More is called one of the leading of the sort here in Tokyo. What I was shown while meeting the "editor" just made me.... disappointed and sad. Of course, if this innovator on the Japanese market set the norm and this is what they have to show there is not much for a guy like me here anymore. To completely be able to cut out all the beauty in photography and without looking a little bit deeper into what is within the frame really was something that I have seen coming but not in this scale...and I am a person with wide open eyes. Photography as flat, washed out and lifeless ideas mixed with thoughtless compositions and a quality lacking in all aspects. No respect to the photo within the image. In a way I am quite grateful to have the chance to meet a young (what is film photography...) striving yet blind business woman like Ms. Tanaka and that I am sure people in similar positions here in Japan will have worked the "Japanese style" into something new and inspiring for new comers in this "scene". We all know it's not photography, but who cares...? (I do, but I am just who I am...not enough)
I see this way of thinking in so many genres here in Japan, a place I actually really like living in. Music, The most fabulous musical instruments are made here but the users who learnt how to use then and make music into something beautiful / powerful with life baked in the mix is very seldom from here. The few japanese bands of musicians that has something of a talent can often not live on it since they are not given the chance by not being money makers and the masses needs something more simple and easy to digest. The music industry...industry? shouldn't this word alone be enough to make you start thinking? Get the point!?
Signing out /
Mattias Westfalk
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Stuff from the street
Kinda felt a little like this today...struggling to get some shit done. "It's a long way to the top if you wanna Rock'N'Roll" (Bon Scott) also played in the back of my head.
Trashed the city streets with Young Sam later on....feeling petty empty now...!
Trashed the city streets with Young Sam later on....feeling petty empty now...!
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Horizontal
The horizontal portrait, gives you a more environmental feel and a less "fine" framing of the face....but what do I know about anything? ....well, why not!?
Monsieur Bouissou
Did a small photo essay on one of my closest friends while he visited me during the holidays. If you go back in the blog to June 2007 you can find more stuff on him. Pretty interesting guy. Bike fanatic, photo geek, weird travel destination seeker, French Osakanian pro leather craftsman.
Hates mornings, Loves beer, brought RxKxBx to Osaka.
Hates mornings, Loves beer, brought RxKxBx to Osaka.
A day in the park
Golden week, a week of slow life for the ones that decide not to hit the beaten track. Spent an afternoon in Tokyo's oasis of Meiji Park under the huge trees and relative tranquil mood. To be able to have access to a place like this in the very middle of this megapolis is a treat. If you come here on dark and rainy winter days the mood is extraordinary. B/W summer is cool as well.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
(More) OGRE
Why do I post so much OGRE? Because I really like the whole a atmosphere around it all. The sound, the members and the pure and raw metal that is being produced.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Mayday Mayday Mayday
May 1st, while the majority were out there with flapping banners and coarse slogans I spent midday eating an All-You-Can-Eat cake buffet for lunch (weird experience indeed, heavy sugar rush after second helping). Then a walk in the park with my better half, loaded with whipped cream and cheesecake, summer is here again. I have the luxury of being in possession on a small lot of dirt, well, we call it our garden. And the tulips we got from someone was in full bloom so I couldn't resist to shoot some. Flowers are cool in many ways. The colors, shape, the social meaning and purpose as plants...ever though why they look like they do? Darwinism rules.
Then did a couple of hours on a future photo exhibition about the history of The Ghetto. Was shooting my friend Ako's art exhibition there, in the shadier part of town. Black&White suited best to the mood and also a fine contrast to todays earlier outings.
The Ghetto
Then did a couple of hours on a future photo exhibition about the history of The Ghetto. Was shooting my friend Ako's art exhibition there, in the shadier part of town. Black&White suited best to the mood and also a fine contrast to todays earlier outings.
The Ghetto
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)