Daruma

Small local Daruma matsuri (Festival) here in Tokyo. I am not a religious person at all but I really like the story behind the Daruma. And the mood at a place like this is always worth seeing.

Japanese festivals are funny, as most religious "festivals" in general are. I have been around the world, seen many different religions and what they represent and I have to say that I am always fascinated of what I see. Some of the most unbelievable buildings and locations are linked to a religion or sect. The masses, in this case mainly old people paying their respect to a tradition more than anything else, the religion feels secondary here. Money is a leading factor even here as in most so called "holy" events. The local Yakuza are doing their best to squeeze out a yen of the minions selling snacks and beverages. Japan and the mafia has a love/hate relation where everyone are suppose to not notice that anything is wrong by dealing with the thugs, by quickly turning a blind eye to the truth. The Japanese Yakuza is a taboo topic in Japan, and this brings out some rather spectacular social behavior. I am just a mere spectator, taking in what's infront of me and my cameras, and it's amazing what you can see with open eyes!

5x4

Zoo prison, why do we treat animals this way? Greed and selfishness is still the dogma...







Tama riverbed



Paris winter



Chiba sand dunes



Xian citywall



Ransacked through my files the other day and found these. Some pretty (!?) real anti zoo images and some scanned B/W from a previous projects. There are some images here hidden in my hard-drives that I have a clear and precise memory of but in a way have forgotten. When I see them now after many years I know that I was shooting with other aims and with a different vision. The aims and visions have changed over the years but still with a hungry attitude towards all photogenic/photographic/photo.....

In Osaka

I went down to Osaka under the weekend to meet up with a friend. Kansai has a whole other "feel" to it than Tokyo and it made me open up my eyes and got some inspirational photo moments. The streets are wider, there are less trees as well as people but a traffic light on every corner. The outskirts are really depressing but personalities are more colorful as to tackle the balance.

Mamiya 6x7

A friend of mine "found" this camera at his girlfriends place. He asked me if it was an OK camera. Well, for me this is one of my dream cameras. This is an RB67, full of mold and spider web etc, all the old rubber packings are gone and the shutter won't move....guess we'll get it going and test shoot someday soon.







Soon to be...

Late Afternoon...

Been awhile since I updated anything on my blog. Had a couple of small jobs and the days just slips away. I found a blog today that made me open up my eyes again after a month slumber. In a way, the Mt. Everest Trail shooting was a so strong concept for me that I kind of lost track of things here down on earth, took me a while to get back so to say. But I realized lately that there are things to shoot still, stuff that is too interesting to just leave alone. I have to start some new project pretty soon, get going with some old ones and get in touch with my vision.

The weather was crisp, cold and clear this afternoon here in Tokyo and I saw on the way home between the tall buildings a perfect silhouette of Mt. Fuji. Took the elevator up to 9th floor of my building and got a shot just before the clouds cover this icon of Japan.

Man Power...

The Nepali are hardworking and tough little men and women. While you're in the Nepali mountains you will see these human "pack animals" with loads that would make any seasoned hiker stagger and collapse after a few minutes. We call them Sherpa, or porters but they are just people making a living on carrying goods up and down the mountains. Some are true Sherpas, people from the himalayan region some are not. Nevertheless, he brings his load up through the valleys from early morning till after dark, allowing himself short rests and on a spartan diet. 60-70kg is what is considered the norm to haul up in rattan baskets with one string over the forehead as the only support. I've spent many weeks in the himalayan region and always felt a huge respect for these men and women sharing the trail with me. For me thinking that 2009 just started its cycle and still there are people living under these conditions in raw nature, this is a true eye opener.