I really like beta testing cameras and lenses. Obviously I do this for my own lenses, but I’ve also beta tested the likes of Pixii which was a real treat for a rangefinder fan I can tell you. More recently I have also been involved in the beta testing of the Alfie Tych. First time …
I checked in to a decent hotel on the south side of the city and went out for a recce, walking north through the love hotel district, then “Soapland” – which I’ll leave to your sordid imaginations – and on to “Suskino”, the drinking and restaurant area. Nothing out of the ordinary on the way, …
Drinking Districts in Japan VI: Sapporo, and a Gruesome Start Read More
Well, all roads would eventually lead here. I knew it in my gut. My dalliance with different film cameras and a desire for a certain quality took me past 35mm shooters with decent lenses, and I ended up in the world of 645 cameras: the Fuji Ga 645i, the Mamiya 645 and more recently the …
My photography is about people but often without people – stories in objects and surroundings about their lives and lifestyles.
Nagasaki (city) is a historically famous port. The only place in Japan to allow foreigners entry for trade (albeit to a small controlled island ‘Deshima’) for three centuries. The Portuguese brought new cuisine (‘Tempura’ – food in batter – and ‘Castella’ – a type of pound cake), the Spanish brought Christianity, but the Dutch and British were were more interested in making money so traded without religious connections.
My photography is about people but often without people – stories in objects and surroundings about their lives and lifestyles.
Japan probably conjures up many thoughts – crowds, temples (Buddhist) and shrines (Shinto), Shinkansen, mount Fuji, and more. City workers’, ‘salarymen’ in Japanese, lifestyles are centred around their employment, traditionally at the same company for their entire lives, with a wife and children at home. And make no mistake, Japan is a very traditional society still, with by far the majority of girls giving up their careers on getting married, staying at home, cooking, cleaning, bearing and looking after children. After work husbands continue ‘work’ with their colleagues in a favourite izakaya – the Japanese equivalent of a pub/restaurant in the UK.
