Khujuraho

We went to the famous temples of Khujaraho but as is usually the case I found more inspiration in daily life.

インドにある有名なカジュラーホーの寺院群に行ってきましたが、やっぱり観光地より日常生活を撮るのが好き。

Hounen Matsuri

I was a little reluctant to attend the Hounen Matsuri (豊年祭) in Komaki despite it being only a short bicycle ride from my home. The rumours of the ‘not-so-respectful’ reactions by certain non-Japanese visitors at the sight of a giant wooden phallus being the main reason.

However, after just travelling thousands of miles to photograph the Kumbh Mela I found it difficult to justify not attending. Unfortunately some of the non-Japanese lived up to the reputation but when they did it was always laughed off or largely ignored by the locals.

It was nonetheless a bizarre sight to see a giant wooden penis being carried down the road I cycle along daily by sake-fuelled men and women cradling wooden penises. Equally bizarre was the sight of some of the visitors dressed up in fancy dress.

The characters 豊年 mean bountiful/abundant year and although the festival and local shrine is visited by couples hoping to conceive it is also attended by anyone hoping for a prosperous year.

Website update

I’ve recently updated my website with two new portfolios based on my recent trip to the Maha Kumbh Mela.

Please feel free to take a look if you can spare the time.

Both projects can be found here.

Nepal

Some of my favourite photographs were taken when I wasn’t particularly interested in photography. One day, hopefully soon, I hope to get back into a similar frame of mind.

写真にあまり興味のない時期がありました。その時期に撮った写真を時々見てみると、とても気に入る写真が幾つかでてきます。下の写真はその中の一つ。

その時、考えずに撮ったのでとても楽でした。その考え方や撮り方をまたいつかとり戻りたい。

Stopping

Personally it’s not easy stopping to take photos when out cycling, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.

There’s something about exploring the countryside randomly on a bike that can’t be put into words so taking along a camera is a valid alternative.

I’m not sure why I like the photos below, or why you should either, but for some reason I do.

By the way, the images below don’t look sharp but if you click on them they do. Anybody know why?

Work

The main reason for the existence of Royal Trading is so that Pakistani community can work, make a living, and send money to families back home. There’s always work being done when I go there. And there’s always time for chai.

Royal Tradingという会社は、在日のパキスタン人たちがパキスタンに残っている家族の家計を支えるためにあります。なので、毎回訪問すると色々な方々が働いています。その中にチャイタイムももちろんあります。

Making Sense of Cambodia

I don’t know where to start. This was my first trip to Cambodia so there’s no way I can claim to understand the country after such a short trip. But Cambodia got to me in a good way. It hit all the right nerves and I want to go back.

From a photography viewpoint I originally thought I had nothing. Nothing at all. But now, ever so slowly, that’s changing. There are some shots I like.

Now I need to make sense of the images I have and decide what I want to do with them. I know I want to show the images to the kids I teach – they need to learn about the wider world and I think photography plays a huge part in that process. I also know I want to make a simple book – just for me so that I have something to show from the trip.

But I also know there are huge holes that need to be filled and the only way to do that is learn more about Cambodia as well as myself and to make another trip in the near future.

Here are a few picks from the first edit I made. More to come later.

何からスタートしたらよいのでしょう？僕にとって初めてのカンボジア旅行で、だから、どういう国か理解するには滞在期間が短すぎました。でもカンボジア、かなりよかったです。ぐっと心をとらえられ、すぐに戻りたいくらいです。

写真が出来上がった時、最初に思ったのは「いい写真が全くない！」でした。本当にいい写真がないと思いました。でも、じわじわ変わってきています。幾つか好きな写真が浮かびあがってきました。

とりあえず撮った写真をどういう風に使えばいいのか考え中。分かっているのは、今英語を教えている子ども達に見せたい、ということです。彼らに世界の広さを知っていて欲しい。そのために、写真は大きな役割があると思います。そして、自分の為に、簡単な写真集も作ってみたい。

でも、まだまだ撮れてない写真が沢山あると気付きました。上手く撮れるように、カンボジアや自分自身のことをもっと深く習わないと。その為にもすぐにカンボジアへ戻りたい。

最初の段階として編集された写真です。あとでまた載せます。

Cambodia

Later today I fly to Cambodia for the first time. As it’s my first trip I’ve spent the last couple of months reading as much as possible and trying to find inspiration through photographers work. There’s a lot of good work out there and I’ve only just scratched the surface with what I’ve read so far.

I remember wanting to go in the mid-nineties but the rumors of violence, whether valid or not, put me off.

The last time I travelled for the sole purpose of photography was to India and I had so much gear I thought my back was going to break, even before I left Japan. This time I’m keeping it much lighter. One Leica M6, a 50mm and a 28mm lens, one very compact 35 mm point and shoot as backup, about 35 rolls of Kodak Portra 400, 10 rolls of Ilford Delta 3200, and five or six rolls of 120 Kodak Portra for my Holga. No computer, no cables, no memory cards, no battery chargers, just the basics.

Hopefully I’ll have something to post when I get back in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, take a look at James Whitlow Delano’s work from Cambodia. He was my instructor at the Tokyo Documentary Photography Workshop last year. It can be viewed here and here.

今日から初めてカンボジアに行きます。初めてなので、色々な本を読んで、色々な写真家の作品を見ました。カンボジアはとても深いと気付きました。

90年代に行きたかったけれど、危険性について様々言われていましたのでなかなか行けませんでした。

前回写真を撮るため海外に行った時、持ってた機材が重すぎて、体を壊しそうになるほどでした。今回は、出来るだけ軽く出かける為にライカM6, 50mmや28mmのレンズ、バックアップとしてコンパクト35mmのフイルムカメラ1台や35本のKodak Portra、10本のIlford Delta、そして5~6本の120 Kodak Portra、ホルガ用を持って行きます。ノートパソコンなし、コンセントなし、メモリーカード、電池チャージャなどもなし。

日本に帰国する時、いい写真をブログにアップ出来ると願っています。

その間、去年色々世話になったJames Whitlow Delanoさん(東京在住)のカンボジア写真をご覧ください。

こちら とこちら.

Cricket / クリケット

It’s not often you see a game of cricket being played in Japan and I’m not sure what the mostly elderly onlookers and teenage softball playing kids made of it. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve explained to friends here that their beloved baseball is actually a spinoff of cricket. Not only were casual spectators witness to some fine cricket, but they were also privileged to a fine selection of Pakistani/Indian tunes booming from one of the many car stereos.

The Sunday afternoon meet up, I was told, was ‘just a bit of fun’, which it was, but things got pretty competitive once the first ball was bowled. One bowler – who incidentally pulls off some very respectable Bollywood dance moves – was in the same cricket club as Salim Malik, and the pace of his fast bowling was testament enough that he was telling the truth.

If you live in the area and know the rules of cricket get in touch. Newcomers are more than welcome.

クリケットご存知ですか。日本では滅多に見られないスポーツですが、毎週日曜日、近所のパキスタン人、インド人、スリ・ランカ人などが試合しています。先週末、取材に行って来ました。試合しながら、皆の車からインドやパキスタンの音楽が流れていましたが、散歩中のおじいちゃんやソフトボール部の女の子たちはどう思ったのでしょうか? クリケットのルールをご存知の方は、是非参加してください。いつでもウエルカム!

Royal Trading Update

It’s been a while since I posted photos from Royal Trading, the Pakistani owned car yard I’ve been visiting recently. It really does feel like I’ve left Japan whenever I go there. A 5 minute drive down the road even takes you to a small restaurant where the only clientele (apart from me) are from South Asia, and the only menu I saw was written in Urdu.

久しぶりにパキスタンのカーヤードの写真を載せたいと思います。ヤードに行くと、日本ではなく遠く離れたパキスタンにいるという感じがします。インド・パキスタン系の人しか行かないインドレストランも近所にあります。メニューはウルドゥー語だけです。