shadows

trains, ink and acrylic

This series of photos was taken back in October, and is of my colleague Hamaguchi Masahiro. The pictures are of him working on one of his enormous paintings for an exhibition that was shown at the Tokyo National Art Museum along with 600 other paintings by Japanese artists.
Masahiro has a passion for old trains, specifically narrow track trains that were used for transporting logs and people into Japan’s forests in the 1900’s. Almost all the paintings he exhibits are of these trains. Hamaguchi san is also a very good film photographer. The precedence for his paintings comes from his photos and the correlation (in terms of composition) between these two mediums is quite evident. I like how he treats the subject straight on as if one is looking at a front elevation drawing. The angle of this particular painting reminded me of an orthographic drawing. Furthermore, he likes to distort the perspective of the background and the surrounding environment to add complexity to the painting. As you can see the colour palette is typically Japanese (monochrome with subtle hints of blood red), and is slightly reminiscent of anime in a somber sort of way. However, what is unique about his colour use is that every so often he would lay the canvas on the floor and start splattering black ink onto it, and it works. The splatter of black, coupled with the distorted perspective enhances the dynamics of the overall painting. Another part of his style worth mentioning is the little bits of detail that he paints onto certain elements, for example a screw on the train.
Whenever I'm free at work I would go and chat with him over a cup of coffee and talk about photography and art. Definitely an inspirational person.

treachery, lust, and drunkeness

Written in 1959 when he was only 22years old, Rum Diary is loosely based on Thompson’s experiences and thoughts at the time. It is his second novel after the unpublished Prince Jellyfish and was written a decade before his invent of Gonzo Journalism.

What captivated me the most is how Thompson presents the realities of living in a foreign country; the drunken escapades, lust, financial stability, and eventual hatred for ones new foot-hole, all of these seem too familiar and at times a little too real considering my current status quo. Subsequently, I think this enhanced my reading experience.

The story revolves around a fictitious (and autobiographical) journalist named Paul Kemp who moves to Puerto Rico from New York to work for a crappy local newspaper. The characters in the book are well developed, and without going into character profiles, each plays a pivotal role in the events that takes place for Kemp on San Juan.

As the book progresses, Kemp reveals the veneers of the sunny, rum-laden myth of his new habitat and discovers what his colleagues warns him of upon his arrival; the Government is corrupt, locals are violently opposed to the Americans and the newspaper he works for is about to collapse.

However, the heart of Rum Diary's story is Kemp's internal conflict with himself, whether it be falling in love with his colleagues girlfriend, or contemplating his morality while trapped in the snare of one lost weekend after another

I ... sat there and drank, trying to decide whether I was getting older and wiser, or just plain old

As the book progresses, we are exposed to his collisions with himself, and his analysis of his contemporaries.

I could see myself in Caracas and Bagota and Rio, wheeling and dealing through a world I had never seen but knew I could handle because I’m a champ. But it was pure masturbation, because deep down in my gut I wanted nothing more than a clean bed and a bright room and something to call my own at least until I got sick of it. There was an awful suspicion in my mind that I’d finally gone over the hump, and the worst thing about it was that I didn’t feel tragic at all, but only weary, and sort of comfortably detached.

Throughout the book, Kemp loathes the situation that he has gotten himself into and ponders on 'past highs'.

Listening to him I realized how long it had been since I felt I had the world by the balls, how many quick birthdays had gone by since that first year in Europe when I was so ignorant and so confident that every splinter of luck made me feel like a champion.

The Rum Diary is ultimately not so much of a novel about how to live in a foreign land, but serves as a cautionary tale about why it's worth escaping. To me, nothing can be more from the truth about my current situation.

When the sun got hot enough ... it burned away all the illusions and I saw the place as it was ... cheap ... sullen ... and garnish ... nothing good was going to happen here.

Tokyo Design Week

well it's that time of the year again. Make sure you check out as many exhibitions as possible that is being held in various venues around Tokyo. The two main ones being at Meiji Jingu Gaien, and DesignTide in Tokyo Midtown. 10.29 - 11.3

Runaway

The new Kayne West music video marks his return to the limelight, and it is cool shit >>>

UNDERGROUND

At long last I've finished reading Haruki Murakami's Underground. The book is based on testimonials by people involved in the 1995 Sarin gas attack in Tokyo's subway.

Perpetrated by Japan's religious cult Aum Shinrikyo, the book attempts to paint a full picture of the event. What interested me the most was not the people's recollections of that spring day, but rather the insight into the pysche of the Japanese society the book gave. Underground is written in two parts: the victims and the cult members. The interviews reveal to the reader an understanding of the two extremes of Japanese society; those that are 'a cog of society's system' and those that are not. When one begins to question their role and purpose, their attempt to search for answers usually end up at religion's doorstep. It is then easy to see how those that question the workings of Japan's utilitarian society, are easily tricked into something as extreme as killing people. Those that joined Aum did just that, wanting to find a deeper purpose in life they simply annunciate the secular world. When this happens layers of reality begin to be distorted thus making individuals and groups dangerous. Haruki writes:

The sad fact is that language and logic cut off from reality have a far greater power than the language and logic of reality - with all that extraneous matter weighing down like a rock on any actions we take.

Since living here, I've been fascinated by Japanese society and it's workings. Reading this book made me think that I'm glad I'm not a cog in this country's system. Definitely recommended reading.

Natura 1600

scanned my negatives for this test roll today, and boy am I impressed with the colours. However, there was a problem with my camera and the film had light leaks on most of the frames. I blame the camera for this. Some photos required a bit of fixing up but the ones that were ok, I'm happy with.
I wanted a low quality, grainy, saturated look and the light leaks kind of add to the character of the photos.
No doubt I will be using this film stock again, but in a different camera. Here are some of my favourites.

In The Miso Soup

One of the most entertaining and fast paced books I've read this year. Its a psycho-thriller set in the heart of Tokyo, namely Kabukicho.
Basically the plot revolves around a young Japanese guy (who works as a sex tour guide for foreigners in the Kabukicho district) and his American client whom he suspects is a serial killer. Murakami has done well in developing each character and a plot that keeps the reader entertained. I read this in a day and it's a fairly easy read, though I must warn you that its pretty gruesome towards the middle. Highly recommended.

Late Spring

Directed by acclaimed Yasujiro Ozu in 1949, the movie is a family drama set in post war Japan.
I won't go into details about plot here, but really wanted to talk about the visuals of the movie. Ozu's camera work is genius and compositionally inspiring. I say this because in the entire movie he never once zooms or pans the camera. Each frame is shot at a very low angle. As a result, some frames are just still shots of a scene sans actors. This film is definitely a good precedence for my photography.

man

An exhibition of Man Ray's works titled Unconcerned But Not Indifferent is being held at The National Art Centre in Tokyo. I managed to see it yesterday. Although I am aware of the man, I have never really seen any of his stuff at a gallery, so it was definitely insightful.

Before the exhibition, Man Ray to me was someone that had pioneered photography and was known for his portraits of famous writers and artists. I've also seen his numerous fashion shots of women in books, but what I didn't know was that he was more of an artist than a photographer. The exhibition reveals that during his time in Paris, he was informally associated with the Dada and Surreal art movements that was happening at the time and his art clearly reflects this. His Revolving Doors (La Rencontre) series is my favourite of the entire exhibition.

Besides art and photography, he also experimented with film and sculpture. I found his art to be more interesting and inspiring than his photography. Some of his stuff is too Bauhaus for my liking and I will leave it at that.

If you are interested in modernist art and experimental photography than I suggest you go check this exhibition out >>>

finally developed

This roll has been stuck in my Diana F+ camera for over 6 months and I finally shot the last frame this week. The Diana F+ is a fun camera to have in your bag because it's so light compared to my other cameras, which meant I carried it around whenever I felt like shooting. As a result, the photos on here are without a theme or purpose and taken simply because I saw something that required capturing.

I shot these using a 24 x 48mm frame (panoramic) and the guy that scanned them was an idiot because he scanned my negatives at 24 x 36mm, therefore my photos were either missing or cropped half way through the photo.

The colours that the colour negative 100 films produce are surprisingly vivid and have an a nostalgic feel to them especially when shooting at sunset. Here are some of the frames I did manage to put back together. Enjoy.

design ethos of Dieter Rams

One of the most influential Designers of the 20th century. Dieter Rams made Braun a household name in the 50's producing electronic gadgets remarkable both for their austere aesthetics and user-friendliness.
Here is a video interview with the German designer.

graffiti

Still one of my favourite artists.

Kudos to Fred

Yesterday one of my friends from back home wrote to me about giving her some of dad's recipes. My dad, as many of my friends may already know, is an awesome chef. He's worked in a famous hotel restaurant in Hong Kong, had his own restaurant after that, before moving our entire family to New Zealand to set up another one. Only recently did he retire.
Anyways, ever since I could remember my dad has always been cooking, and I have many fond memories growing up around food. I definitely have my dad to thank for my cooking skills and my love for food (and also putting me through university).
We served many dishes in our restaurant but none of it was authentic Chinese food as I knew it. I like the homely cooked meals that we ate as a family after we shut shop. After my recent visit to China and seeing dad cook for our extended family, it is easy to see what Chinese food really is. Ingredients are freshly bought each day at the local markets right down to the live fishes and chicken (yes, the poor chickens had to slaughtered). The dishes are prepared with passion and precision rather than the fast-food style Chinese food that we sold to the public.
One of my favourite dishes that dad makes is a steamed chicken dish. When I ask him for the recipe it is so hard to get exact measurements, because he cooks from experience and never really measures the ingredients. As a result, I had to look up the recipe online and found this. I hope everyone enjoys making this as much as me and my brothers do. Cheers dad, for all that you've taught me.

Lillian Bassman

some inspirational vintage fashion photography. I especially like the rawness and over exposed look of her photos.

celebrities in suits >> why not?

Stylist-turned-designer Adrien Sauvage puts a fresh spin on men's suiting by casting and personally photographing some of art and music's finest as models for his debut collection. The black-and-white project, called "This is Not a Suit," sets the stage for his first collection of suits that mix modern styles with Saville Row-level cuts. As an experienced tailor, the young upstart's transformation from styling made a natural progression to designing, with the impeccably-conceived collection speaking for itself. The photographs are amazing and so are the suits.

Norman Collins

A new documentary based on the life of one of the most influential American tattoo artists. This biopic looks at the rebellious life the tattoo artist led and his influence on the next generation of artists like Mike Malone, Don Ed Hardy and Philadelphia Eddy. His exploration in colour gave classic American tattoos a new look and helped bridge a gap between Eastern and Western tattoo traditions. Check out the official page here.

Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry from IndiePix on Vimeo.

New Kayne

let me know what you think about it >>>

Eggs Benedict

If you're living in a city where getting one of these bad boys is as rare as finding good Chinese food then make it yourself. Seriously one of the best hangover cures ever. Must be accompanied with a proper expresso.

Semi Permanent, NZ

Already in its seventh year, the annual design conference brings together speakers from a broad range of creative disciplines including graphic design, fashion, animation, illustration, motion graphics, typography, sound design, interactive and experiential marketing, fine art, music, product design and more.

On the list of speakers this year is Storm Thorgerson, whoose graphic design studio specialises in creative photography involved in mainly the music industry. His studio has done covers for many bands including Muse and Mars Volta.

A two event, August 20-21 at the THE EDGE, Aotea Centre, Auckland. Go check it out!

progress >>>

second and third canvas.

Triptych

Well it has been a while, but I've just started a triptych based on the television series Entourage. It's for my friend's apartment and since they like the program so much I wanted to do something that would represent that. For those that haven't seen the program it's basically a male's version of Sex and the City; fast cars, beautiful women, drugs, parties, fame and fortune. I've chosen the Rolls Royce Phantom, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, and the H2 Hummer as the theme. I'm influenced by street art and graffiti, so I've decided to use acrylic spray and black ink as my medium. Here is a photo of the first canvas in progress.

Roast Beef with Slow-Cooked Tomatoes and Garlic

apt for both hemispheres.

Tron music by Daft Punk

I've been a fan of Daft Punk ever since I heard their 12" The New Wave EP from 1994. So when I heard that they were doing the sound track for the new movie Tron Legacy, it just fueled my excitement. Check out the samples here.

An old man and his love for planes

A couple of days ago, I bumped into my neighbour. At the time I was tired and wasn't really in the mood to converse, but he insisted. In the end, I'm glad I did. It's rare moments of human interaction like this that I appreciate.
My skinny frame neighbour was a plane engineer during the war, which meant he spoke comprehensible English. His name is Goma, age 83. Goma didn't speak much about the war and was more interested in teaching me about his toy planes. The planes are his passion and during our hour talk he would go in and out of his house bringing out photos, plane parts and eventually his winning planes. The planes which had recently won competitions were surprisingly crudely made. As he began to explain to me the process and creation of each I began to understand the complexity and engineering knowledge that was put into their construction. The beauty of the planes are not in the aesthetics but rather in the technical knowledge on which they have been built on. He is after all an engineer. The planes flew really well and he even let me do a mini photo shoot.

pork ... yumm

just developed

Here are a few shots from a 120mm roll I took last autumn using my friends Mamiya C330 and shooting on Fuji Pro 400. While editing the photos, I noticed that the colours are clearer in the highlights while the colour saturation in the shadows seems to render the subjects in a three-dimensional way. This was my first time shooting with the camera so most of the focusing was way off and many had to be discarded.