Shoji Ueda (1913-2000) was born in Tottori Prefecture. In 1925, he entered the Yonago prefectural junior high school, where, during his third year, he immersed himself in photography. After graduating in 1931, he joined the Yonago Photography Circle. In 1932, he moved to Tokyo to attend the Oriental School of Photography. After graduating at the age of 19, he returned to his hometown and opened his own photo studio. In the same year he joined the Japan Photography Association (Nihon Kouga Kyoukai). He began to establish a reputation and his photographs were repeatedly selected for publication in photography magazines and displayed in exhibitions. In 1937, he became one of the founders of the Chugoku Photographers Group (Chugoku Shashinka Shuudan) and frequently presented his work in the group’s exhibitions in Tokyo. His works, such as Four Girls Pose, drew wide attention.
In 1947, Ueda became a member of Ginryusha, a group of professional and amateur photographers established in postwar Tokyo. In 1949, his series entitled, My Family, appeared in the magazine, the first of widely acclaimed works featuring Tottori’s beaches and sand dunes. In 1954, he won the Nika Prize, and in 1958 his works were selected by Edward Steichen for exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. 1971 saw the publication of Children the Year Around, and in 1974, his series, A Piece of Life began to appear regularly in Camera Mainichi magazine. In 1978 and 1987, Ueda was invited to participate in the Arles Photo Festival in France. 1980 saw the opening of his exhibition entitled, My View in Tokyo, and in 1982 his work was selected for display at Germany’s Photokina Exhibition. From 1975 to 1994, Ueda taught at Kyushu Industrial University.In 1995, Shoji Ueda Museum of Photography was founded in Kishimoto-cho (now Houki-cho). In 1996, he was awarded a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the goverment of France. In 1998, he received the first Tottori Prefecture Prefectural Citizen Achievement Award
After getting home from Japan, I realized that I didn’t know much about Japanese Photography/Photographers. So I’ve been doing some reading and present some of the things I’ve learned.
Domon Ken Ken Domon was born in 1909 in Sakata, in the North-Western Yamagata prefecture, however his family moved to Tokyo when he was seven years old. By his early teens, Domon had developed an interest in painting canvases, going so far as holding exhibits and even selling one piece for ¥30 (30 cents). Domon then tried unsuccessfully to make a living as a painter, but in 1933 at the age of 24 he followed the advice of his mother and joined the Miyauchi Kotaro photography studio as an apprentice. This was when Domon started to dedicate his life to photography, spending his nights reading books and learning about its history and fundamentals. In 1935 Domon joined Nippon Kobo, an influential publishing agency that produced ‘Nippon’, a magazine aimed at introducing Japan to the West. Nippon Kobo was established in 1933 by Yonosuke Natori, who used innovative photography techniques learned during his time in Germany. There Domon oversaw photography for internationally-bound brochures, and he spent time in the Izu Peninsula working as a cameraman for Rintaro Takeda. The photographs taken during this time became the basis for Fubo, his first book on photography.1939 had a major impact on Domon’s life. After leaving Nippon Kobo and joining the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Domon got married to Tamiko Nakamura. The two travelled to Miyazaki on their honeymoon, but Domon was not one to miss a chance for photography. Following the suggestion of art historian Sumio Mizusawa, this was Domon’s first visit to the temple that would become the foremost subject in his lifework, Muroji Temple.Domon went freelance after the war in 1945, and began “A pilgrimage through old temples” in Nara and Kyoto the following year. Domon became an honorary citizen of Sakata in 1974, which was when he donated all 70,000 pieces of his photography to his hometown. Sakata reciprocated by building the photography museum which was completed in 1983. Other famous photographic works that are periodically shown to the public at the museum include “Muroji Temple”, “Hiroshima” (taken in the years following the dropping of the atomic bomb), “The Children in Chikuho” (photos expressing the daily life of coal miners and their children), “Bunraku Puppets”, and “Features”.
“A truly good photograph captures more than the naked eye.”- Ken Domon
Depite being in Japan for about 10 days I don’t think I really got to experience a good garden. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places, got too tired with all the walking - don’t know!?
Anyway I captured some shots today of the Japanese gardens ad the Denver Botanical Garden to make up.
The premise was to get a cheap Nikon Film SLR and have it in our trailer all the time. Then I just need to bring film and batteries. I selected the Nikon EM because I just got it back from repair and needed to ensure that it was working. I selected in date color film and Japanese Camera Hunter ( JCH) Black and White film to shoot.
The Nikon EM is a beginner’s level, interchangeable lens, 35 mm film, single lens reflex camera. It was manufactured by Nippon Kogaku K. K. in Japan from 1979 to 1982. The camera was designed for and marketed to the growing market of new women photographers then entering the SLR buyer’s market.
It is a bit awkward in that it is aperture priority only camera. So for adjustments you either have to change the ASA dial ( and not forget to set it back after the shot) OR use a button on the front of the camera that opens up by two stops. My review of the negatives show that when I shot plain and then opened by two stops that the 2 stop button worked fine.
I did not do my own developing on the JCH film - I had The Darkroom lab process the film. The color film turned out great as well.
Remember my previous post. Not as bad as I thought it would be. An intermittent light leak from the camera - but given that people now buy digital filters to replicate light leaks this is acceptable. The film had to be tweaked a bit to get the magenta out of the frame so to speak
Have you ever tried to like something because it was the thing to do? We all have. I was told that Susan Sontag was a genius so I picked up her book ONPHOTOGRAPHY. As I’m trying to read her book I thought that she must not have ever photographed anything. It was so much garbage I never made it very far. At the first opportunity I sold it.
Quotes like this convinced me she was an idiot:
“To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. Just as a camera is a sublimation of the gun, to photograph someone is a subliminal murder - a soft murder, appropriate to a sad, frightened time.”
Well finally I stumbled upon an old editorial putting into words what I couldn’t about why I hated her book
If ever a single person was living proof that intelligence is a meaningless quality without modest common sense, it was Susan Sontag who died last week. The reverential tone of the obituaries served to confirm that self-proclaimed intellectuals, no matter how deluded or preposterous, exert a strange, intimidating power over non-intellectuals – especially if they employ that infuriating literary device, the epigram.
Beware the epigramista. Beneath the veneer of apparent profundity of the epigram’s internal contradiction, there is usually a deep well of meaninglessness, from which other intellectuals can extract similarly worthless academic baubles. The foremost proponent of the apparently profound but actually worthless epigram was Oscar Wilde – as in “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.”
I was invested in The Impossible Project early on but didn’t think the film was that great. Just today with cleaning up I found my stash of photos taken with this film. Not as negative as I once was.
Thanks to the nice neighbor lady who moved to Florida - she gifted me a Canon Ftb which is great. She also gave me the 4 point and shoots which I think I will love shooting. She also had in the box a Vivicam 335 - a 1.3MB digital camera. Here are the results. Safe to say the camera is well on it’s way to some landfill
The surest way to fail in photography technically is to grab an old point and shoot that you’ve never used and put in 16 year expired film and go shooting. You folks will just have to wait till I get the film back but his is exactly what I did.
Porsche Club Racing which is a national series actually started in the 1970’s here in Colorado at 2nd Creek Raceway. This weekend was the 2019 installment. Just a few photos from the time spent at the track
This weekend in Santa Fe the Colorado Airstream Club had a rally. Just down the road from Santa Fe Skies RV park was the grand opening of the Vintage Trailer Supply Store. They put on talks, food trucks and a place to see some vintage trailers. A very good time.
Every year in South Eastern Colorado there is a migration of Oklahoma Brown Back Tarantulas. These are 8-10 year old males looking for a mate. The females are in burrows in the grasslands. Once the males have mated they are usually dead by November because of cold exposure. They are docile for the most part. Their bite is not poisonous but if bitten one could get infected. They also have hairs on their abdomens that can be “sprayed” at an attacker. The hairs are irritating.
If you’ve every wondered how YOU could become more American than your friends or neighbors, here’s the solution.
Get yourself a big ole ass of a truck and hang the Stars and Stripes on it WITH a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag for good measure. I will never understand this phenomenon. In a much milder form are those folks who wear an American Flag Pin on their suit coat. What is your point. We’re all American’s here ( for the most part). But somehow you need to be a Super American? Sheesh.
Started off as a BW Cinema only film. Now is available in 35 mm cassettes for still photography. Here are a few shots, M7 35/1.4ASPH. A little graining on these scans. When the film is sent back to me I will rescan and see if that’s what the problem is.
is a blended whisky from Suntory’s three distilleries: Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita. This is a round and sweet blend with a refreshing citrus character and a spicy finish.
‘Toki’ means ‘time’ in Japanese. Toki has a different composition to its sister blend, Suntory Hibiki, and its main components are Hakushu single malt and Chita grain whisky.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony
is a blend of Japanese malt and grain whiskies from Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita. Presented in the brand’s trademark 24-faceted bottle representing the Japanese seasons, this is light, approachable and moreish with enticing notes of orange peel and white chocolate.
Mars Iwai
“Here we have a full meal from the whisky’s kitchen. Fumes of briny peat, malt, and robust smoke emanate from its double doors. The palate serves up smoked meats, crushed almonds and peppercorns, along with a generous helping of creamy malt. You’ll want to chew on this for a bit.”
Mars had the boldest taste followed by Hibiki Harmony. Suntory Toki was very light with little in the way of a “hug”. My favorite was the Hibiki Harmony
