Stay Sharp

Monday, November 17, 2014

Black Shape Of Light





He who is the Beast Man, step forward
Let us see you in full glory, revile the swine that holds you
As you once were, you will forever be
May all heinous deeds that has fallen upon your shoulders be lifted off you

You are every man, let us see you free and light
As we steer clear of your path, let us give you strength
Strength to rip us open, crush our bones, consume our flesh

Nothing is worthy of trial and error, no one shall compete to reach the end before you
Step in the footstep of few, the Beast Man seeks vengeance and rightfully so
Let us love to hate you, as you make us understand that all is nothing, nothing at all











Black shape of light
As the beginning of time reaches out
The pestered demon awakes amongst roots and rotting matter
Alone he is the possession of life draped in heavy cloak of anger and hope
A chord-less tune of rattling branches in the wind of the dark hills
Stone crushed to gravel under his sore feet
To see the shadows
Heavy laden with millennia of patience and understanding
Deeper breathing takes him higher
Leave no trace
The short reach for a lifetime of willing
Dead mass comes to life
Roots reaching for bedrock


















Irregular patterns become invisible, a straight line in the forest means death. 
Cold and untamed is the air that flows in and out of the living. 
Why struggle to beat the Alpha, life a mere transition from womb to maggot. 
Yet the senses scream of fear of the oblivious end, escape the only way forward. 
Fangs rip through hide and tissue, feeding life and purpose. 











Loud Silence, failure is waiting around the next bend
The silence of countless lifetimes seek to deafening you
Pounding you down with a heavy beat, the beat of defense
Take your chance and hide, become the environment
Let no one catch a glimpse of you in this state
The hammer shall fall with full force, nothing is everything for you now
To lose is to succeed, success is on the futile path
The winding path of deafening silence






















Stand tall

The black trunk of the Lord gives life to the darkest of shades underneath
No seedling can find it’s rightful place under the King
Basking with a clear consience as the ever whispering wind flows with an answer to all and every riddle                                                 
Roots gripping deep and firm
                              Tendons of steel penetrating
                                                     The Master of the sky will fall the hardest









Amongst friends you are the trusted one your sharp knowledge is complete Amongst the clueless you dwell not nor with he who has doubt looking over his shoulder Worthy companion of few With life I honor you 

Because amongst friends you are the trusted one











Beware the beast man, for he is the devil's pawn 
Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, or lust or greed
Yes, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land
Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours

Shun him

Drive him back into his jungle lair, For he is the harbinger of death

The 23rd scroll, 9th Verse
“Planet of the Apes”






Sunday, November 09, 2014

Cosmo Hammer









Shot a gig with Legion Of Andromeda (Check links and stuff in a post below). I know the faceless approach and "lack-of-humanity" fits this guys personalities and music so I wanted a more progressive style that would go with the mood of this gig. Turned out ok regarding the little mirrorless I used. Always uplifting to shoot stuff that moves you and the story behind this band and what they are achieving is for me a great thing. 













These turned out too clean, still liked them.







Friday, November 07, 2014

The Curse


Lack of inspiration for a long time now, no real will to write, read or do photography. Lingering in limbo-land just waiting to catch up with time has taken it's toll, paying my dues right now. The way to catch up and get on is fading, though, new shit will hit the fan in a not too distant future. Will this be the ticket this time? I really believe it will, if there is a will there is a way.












Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Chest 99, Arm 63

To be Solid, to stick to the plan
Then I will be ready, to take your head off
Expectancy of life, a life time
Nil satisfaction presented to the thinker

                                                           "Anonymous", 1972

Saturday, October 11, 2014

The Castle

Hiked the Okutama to Owa trail via Mt Kumotori the other day. About 35km in all and reached the top of Kumotori (the highest peak of Tokyo at 2018m.a.s.l) after a grueling 6 hour hike more or less straight up through the at first dense pine forest, then at higher altitude in the more gentle and breezy maple, birch forest. Brought my tarp and sleeping bag and planned to stay out in the elements as usual but a drop in temperature (+3 degree) and a wet mist made me give in and I took shelter in a superb "emergency hut" on the peak. Shared a quiet and dry night alone (except for a large bat and a couple of busy mice). Woke up early with Kafka the following day and the sky had cleared with a stunning view of the surrounding forest clad mountains and sky. The highest peak of Japan clearly stood out on the horizon. Walked down through a beautiful autumn forest, saw lots of signs of wild boar and deer and met very few people which is rare in Japan. Solitude is the king and enables you to open up all your senses.
Took me another 6 hours on steep trails down to the 2000 year old Mitsumine Temple (which I couldn't be bother checking out this time, too many humans around) and then another hour on switchback down to the tiny village of Owa where public transport whisked me back "home" with sore muscles and aching joints. Good stuff!








Saturday, August 30, 2014


 Press Release

6X6 PURGATION MAYHEM 
/ Mattias Westfalk (Zine)

Swedish photographer Mattias Westfalk's photo Zine published by galeria de muerte / September 2014.

"6x6 Purgation Mayhem", a photo collection of people involved in the Tokyo underground scene.



28 page / black&white / 257x364mm
First print : 200 copies
published by : galeria de muerte 2014

artist info


Retail price : 666 yen +tax
Wholesale : 400 yen  +tax



== wholesale order / inquiry ==
galeria de muerte
galeriademuerte@gmail.com

3-32-1-3F Higashi Ueno, Taito-ku.
Tokyo 110-0015 JAPAN







                                  MATTIAS WESTFALK | CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Axe


Herman Hesses's Harry Haller a.k.a The Steppenwolf once said 'The unhappiness that I need and long for…is the kind that will let me suffer with eagerness and die with lust. That is the unhappiness, or happiness, that I am waiting for.

Then Franz Kafka mentioned once that, 'I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we are reading doesn't wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? ...we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.'
He also gave us this “A First Sign of the Beginning of Understanding is the Wish to Die.”
As a diehard traveler just in the beginning of understanding, as a curious vagabond, explorer, wanderer, lone nomad I can not stop being the nameless ghost that walks the earth, learning to understand as I go.  Im just a little ant with every right to live and die the way I seem fit. Every breath counts, every step is one closer to the last one behind the next bend in the road, beyond the next crest.








“The meaning of life is that it stops.” 
 Franz kafka

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Legion Of Andromeda





Shot new album promotion stuff for my brothers of Legion Of Andromeda, a primitive monotonic and extremely dense blackened dead death/doom metal band based out of Tokyo, check CD review and HERE. Listen to a couple of tracks and you will "see" that this is black/white music. We wanted a feel of non-human where the music is the core and the looks of who ever produce these sounds are less if not of no importance. Turned out pretty cool I think and ended up with pretty much what I had in mind. As for you who follow my stuff here know by now, I have had the majority of my mind on other projects outside of photography the last couple of years. So it was a rather good feeling to set out into the night and shoot these guys in the darker quarters of Shinjuku in central Tokyo. This area is where I have spent most of my time during my 15 years in Japan and I know every forgotten backstreet which hides some of the coolest locations for great portrait and location photography.











Some test shots that turned out ok, but slightly too humane and "worthyoflivingalifeonplanetearth"…ha ha ha…
I have to continue on this "non human" theme, I can see that this will be something to put more energy and mind into. Stay tuned.