The month long break is up. Back to school tomorrow for preparation for the rest of the semester. This has been probably the most photographically centered of all my summer vacations. If I was not out walking in Tokyo with at least 4 cameras I was developing film, editing negatives, in the darkroom printing, or spotting prints (ugh). If I wasn’t at home doing photo-based things I was meeting with the Konica Gallery director (ok only 2 times) or hitting the photo galleries around town. Over the past few months my camera nerdery quotient has dropped precipitously, with camera store visits being based around paper and photo chemical consumption instead of lens interest. I have not had a chance to visit any camera magazines about getting my photos published to coincide with my exhibition, but that might get done in the late afternoon sometime this week.
Also—- Two days ago in my favorite cafe in Shinjuku, I sat down at a table which was next to the one Daido Moriyama and a friend were chatting at. I’ve known for a couple of years that this particular cafe is one that he frequents almost daily, but it was the first time I had seen him in person. More suprisingly though, was looking up to and see Tomoko taking a seat at another table by the wall.
The tricky thing about photographing Mika is that she is so savy with the medium herself. She knows how to work a good photo even when she is not the one with the camera. If you want to see some more photos by her and of her, go here (日本語). Also, I just found an interview with her and Yuki Watanabe online here (日本語).
On the site above Mika’s statement towards photographing her friend Yuki is as follows:
I think longing and envy is what motivated me to first photograph her.
And I remember that before we were friends I mostly photographed her on the sly. But at that time affection and the desire of possess mingles when the distance between us accidentally diminished. Over four years - a long-time yet short all the same - we changed more than a little and so naturally the way we took pictures of each other changed too. Were I a painter I don’t think I would paint her, and if I were a sculptor I don’t think I would sculpt her. Always looking at her from the same distance, I learned both the joy and hardship of continuously photographing the same person. I now realize that this feeling is something only photography can capture. And so with affection I will gaze upon her with these mingled feelings of affection and jealousy, of superiority, inferiority, and love. And I will capture them all in a single photograph. I think that everything is okay.
It’s difficult to come up with a bettter reason for photographing another person, and Mika’s own understanding of what photography (both the act and end result) can do is what makes taking her photograph so exciting and frightening at the same time.
Finally, these are just 700px wide images on a website. The actual fiber based prints are so much better than a monitor can ever show. It is almost a shame to shoot medium format and then have to reduce the photographs to fit on the internet.
