The Traveling Photographer #2
In October’s Okinawa Living magazine. See a larger, readable, scan of the page here.
Author: travel67
A Bathing Ape / Bape Clothing
Bape is a Japanese fashion brand designed by Tomoaki “Nigo” Nagao. It has quickly become a cult brand with both Japanese youth and American hip-hop stars including Pharrell and Jay-Z. I think you can only buy the clothing at official Bape stores. I got this T-shirt at the Fukuoka branch a couple of years ago. It looks much better on my friend Chris than it does on me. Maybe I need to hit the gym.
Yabusame – Horseback Archery
On of the highlights of the Kamakura Festival is the horseback archery that takes place within the grounds of Hachimangu Shrine. Three square wooden targets are placed at intervals along a tree-lined path. A rider gallops along the path and tries to hit all three targets. The event is free for people who are happy to stand on the target side of the path. If you book in advance you can buy tickets on the opposite side of the path with a better view of both rider and target. A small area was roped off for press photographers next to each of the three targets. I was stood in the third of these areas. I love my Pentax 67II, but at an event like this (high speed sports photography), I was somewhat jealous of the lady next to me using a Canon 5D Mark II. As I have to manually wind the film on and manually focus the camera I could take a single frame for each of the dozen or so archers as they …
Eboh Ajeroh Photography
A few days ago I met up with Eboh Ajeroh a fashion photographer who moved to Okinawa a year ago. Eboh contacted me before he even arrived on island to find out about where he could get film processed, but due to busy schedules we had never managed to meet up. It was great to have a long chat about photography, particularly with someone who works in a field so different from my own. Eboh uses multiple strobes, both in the studio and on location. You can see more of his work at http://www.ebohajeroh.com
Shibuya Shoot
Last week I flew up to Tokyo for a meeting at the Pentax Forum, and to photograph the Hachimangu Shrine festival in Kamakura. (Still scanning the images of the festival will put them up in a later blog.) While I was in the capital, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some youth fashion images. I love to photograph the ornate traditional costumes worn at festivals, but for Tokyo I wanted something a little more up to date. After spending a morning in Shibuya stopping fashionably dressed strangers and asking to take their photograph, I switched tack and met up with Tokyo based model AJ. The whole shoot with AJ lasted less than 30 minutes. Used natural light and a single silver reflector and came away with a few images I’m really pleased with.
Pu’s 14th Birthday!
Today is Pu’s 14th birthday. I just checked an online chart and it says Pu is around 88 in human years. Seiko made Pu a cake (sliced bread) with a topping of mixed vegetables. Once the candles were removed, it was wolfed down in a matter of seconds. Happy Birthday Pu!
Surfing Shoot
I’ve been working on a few images based on outdoor sports in Okinawa. Surfing is a popular sport in Okinawa, but nearly all the images I’ve seen are long telephoto shots from the beach. I thought I would try a different approach, and with the help of a friend to assist (thanks Simon) a local model (thanks MC Seiko) and some nice evening sunshine I got this shot. And here’s a more traditional shot from the beach.
Japan in the News
While I am busy scanning the images from a beach shoot and my trip up to Tokyo last week, I thought I would share a couple of recent news articles about Japan / Okinawa that others might be interested to read. One-in-four Japan women ‘elderly’ Japan Lawmaker Pushes to Scale Back U.S. Bases
Ryukyu Underground – Umaku Kamade music video
In an earlier blog post I mentioned that parts of my dying Eunos Roadster were transplanted to another Roadster owned by Ryukyu Underground’s Keith Gordon. Ryukyu Underground recently released a new album Umui. They even have a music video for the track Umaku Kamade. I only seem to be able to find their first album Ryukyu Underground on the US Amazon site, however, Amazon Japan have a much better selection.
Takashi Murakami directs Kanye West’s “Good Morning” video
I talked about the relationship between Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and Amercian rapper Kanye West in a couple of earlier blogs here and here. What I hadn’t realized was that Takashi Murakami directed the music video for Kanye West’s song “Good Morning”. For some reason I don’t think I ever saw the video on MTV Japan. Fun facts : The DeLorean car was manufactured in Northern Ireland and the body panels were stainless steel so they wouldn’t rust.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 