Group 1 'Umekonbu' Goes to Pentax Forum Gallery and 'NY Manhattan'

We went to a gallery called Pentax Forum in Shinjuku, located inside the Shinjuku Center Building. It takes about 10 minutes, walking from the West Exit of Shinjuku Station. On the B1 floor of the Center Building, there is Pentax Square. When you go in there, you can see the first gallery on the left side, and a show room on the other side, which exhibits the different kinds of cameras from Pentax (and you can try them there!) If you walk farther in the first gallery, you can enter the second gallery, which had other photographer’s pictures at the time we went. By the way, a photographer we’re going to introduce you uses a camera by Pentax.

 The show's title is “NY Manhattan no Aruji Tachi” (NYマンハッタンの主たち), meaning “People from Manhattan, NY”. The photographer’s name is Tadashi Osaka. He was at the gallery, so we got to talk to him for a little. He is 66 years old, and he started taking pictures in club activities when he was in middle school. He used to live in England for a long time when he was young, and at the time he was working as a translator. He decided to take pictures again when he was sixty. He told us that he decided to take pictures of people in Manhattan because he was just so curious about them, and since he knew so much about Europe but had no idea about America, he decided to go to New York. His first time trip there was in 2006, with his wife, and took pictures on the second trip when they went last year.

There were his comments posted at the gallery, and he wrote, “When I say ‘Hello’ to them, they always give back the mild smile” and “a man gives a hearty welcome to me and I develop delusions that I am also one of the leading characters on the stage called Manhattan, NY.” He also told us that he felt the age, race, and degree don’t really matter in America and how America has its own freedom.

Mr. Osaka’s photographs were printed in black and white, about A3 size. According to his blog “Tadashi Osaka’s Photography”, to adjust the tone of his photographs, he printed out the photographs by himself. At the gallery, we could see the photographs lined up on the wall by the scenes of the street, subway, museum, hotel, department store and to café. The photographer might have placed them in this order to make the visitors at his exhibition feel like they’re actually walking through Manhattan.Of course the people in photographs symbolize the big city, New York. But also the tall buildings around them, spray paintings and other kinds of drawings on the walls, fashion styles and looks of the people, and just everything in the photographs says “NEW YORK”!

 I’ve never been to New York, but at the exhibition I could imagine myself walking on a street there. I thought this is the nice way to see how the city I’ve never been to is like, other than reading through catalogs and checking websites. Looking at the real people and their natural smiles, movements, and styles was fun and made me want to visit New York. I actually want to see Mr. Osaka’s other photographs so I hope I can check them out if I get a chance. I would love to go to his exhibition again!

 Please look at this photo. This is a photo of a crossing. In the front, many people are walking across the road. There are various people there such as office worker, a woman with baby carriage, people walking alone and with group, however they are same in the point that they are walking their own way. In the back, tall building are standing. We can assume that there are also many people in those building. Then, the sun shining back of these building seems to be symbolizing their energetic lives.

 Other than this photograph, there are so many attractive photos. These photos as a whole indicate that various people engage in individual lives.

 When we started looking at the pictures, we felt like we were actually in NY city. Even though all the pictures were black and white, they looked all real and fresh. None of us has never been there before, but through pictures, we thought we found out what it is like to be in that huge city. What we thought was that anyone could be a star in NY. We assume it has some kind of an air that makes you realize you are a star in your own life story. We saw some people in pictures and they were bright and energetic. And we strongly thought they looked very strong inside which was understandable. You would have to be independent and know what you want and need in NY because It's where you can be ambitious and purchase your dreams and that's why it has attracted people a long time.

The pictures also made us realize that any moments or scenes of your life are beautiful and could be amazing art. The pictures were simple and casual but very fascinating and we simply liked them. Lastly, if you asked if we wanted to go visit his work at a gallery again, we definitely would say "YES".

Group 8 'Orange Juice' Sees 'Nekopathy' at Zen Gallery

copyright Masayuki Nakaya

We went to Zen Photo gallery in Roppongi individually between October 19^th and 21^st.  There was an exhibition of photographs by Masayuki Nakaya who loves cats.  The title of the display was nekopathy which means feelings of cats or cat-like.  I would like to describe what the gallery was like including my impression.

First the gallery looked fine both internally and externally.  Even though the gallery was placed in a building, it seemed as if detached from the rest in a good way.  As we stepped into the room, there was a huge photograph of a cat wrapped up in a big white blanket in front.  After I looked at the photo I noticed that a design of the gallery itself was pretty simple but felt nice and clean.  The walls were all white and the room was bright enough with a fluorescent lamps.  Moreover it had a high ceiling built in well hole style so we could look up at the sky.  I liked a little wooden chair to sit on for a while talking to others and reviewing the photos from the different viewpoints. In total, there were 39 photographs and their sizes were all mixed up.  Since it only took us 2 minutes from Roppongi station, the gallery was convenient to visit.  There were some restaurants nearby as well.

Coming back from gallery saying I have found lots of wonderful things, I think that is the most important thing.

 I'll explain about the history of the gallery. But its history is still short:  Zen photo gallery opened in September 2009, in Shibuya, Tokyo, as a photo gallery which shows photos especially taken in Asian countries. From February 2011, it moved to Roppongi. In June 2009, it was established in Beijing, China, too. So Zen photo gallery has galleries both in Tokyo and Beijing. Its aim is to be a bridge between Japan and China and a platform for the best of traditional and contemporary photography from both countries.

The photographer, Masayuki Nakaya was born in Ehime prefecture and graduated from Matsuyama University and Kuwasawa design school. He lives with four cats and his wife. He loves cats as a subject because they are free, not flattery, and expressive. So, he has taken pictures of cats through 7 or 8 years. He uses a film camera and always keeps it around himself so that he takes pictures which he likes at the moment. When he display his works, he keeps in mind the colors. And, sometimes, he makes some scene for his works. Though he had taken pictures of cats in landscape, he has taken private pictures since four years ago. So, this exhibition was from completely his private, domestic scene.

Haruto Hoshi at Third District Gallery by 'Tama' Group 7

A few seconds walk from the C5 exit of the Shinjuku Sanchome station brings you to the Third District Gallery. However, perhaps you will not be able to find it easily. This is because Third District Gallery is in the small office block. When we looked for the gallery, we could not expect that the photo gallery is in such a tiny and high building. You climb the stairs and the gallery is on the fourth floor. On the way up stairs, there is shady lingerie shop and a pub. ("First thing I had felt was scary or ominous. Stair and building was narrow and dark. But simultaneously, I had another feeling. It seemed dark and scary but it made feel curious and feel want to search what is in there" -said another group member!) 
 As soon as we step into the gallery on the fourth floor, we are lapped in light. White is the prevailing color in the gallery, the lights are bright. The gallery’s entrance is confined, but extends gradually, and the gallery is about 6 meters long. The gallery is comparatively small, but it did not feel small. This is because there are little things and what is in there are very simple in this gallery. The gallery has 28 photographs. Photographs are exhibited every direction. Each photographs is lighted, and in the metal frames. There are one table and two chairs in the middle of the gallery. The back of the gallery has the office, sometimes making use of the darkroom. The photographers develop pictures there. 

Five Japanese photographers run the Third District Gallery. The predecessor of this gallery was called Gallery Q, and it began in 1996. The name of Third District Gallery is come from the place name, Shinjuku sanchoume. Hoshi Haruto, the one of the five photographers in this gallery, is said that he does not like this name, because this name is too easy.  The five owners of this gallery judge severely the photographs of the applicants who would like to exhibit his or her work. This is because Hoshi Haruto, the organizer of St. photo exhibition 9, said that the photo gallery is the only valuable place at which the photographers can learn and make their photographs public. The day we went to this gallery, we met a men and women who study photographs in a university. They said it is difficult for them to live on the photographs as work, so the gallery is important place to study photographs after graduating from school.

Another group member writes:

I'm going to tell you about the photographer, Hoshi Haruto . When we went to the gallery, he was there and talked a lot with us. He was very frank, so he told about himself openly.

 Mr. Hoshi graduated from middle school, and began to work without visiting school. He became a carpenter's mate. He said he had dreamed living in craftsmen’s society. However, in his latter twenties, he became involved in the underside of the society. His best and old friend for example was a ''yakuza'' member, and Hoshi himself sold drugs to make ends meet. The friend told him to be with him and Hoshi followed. He lived as a follower of the friend for some years. To the outside, he acted vigorously, but on the inside, he was weak and disintegrated. One day, he realized that he can't lead such a life as long as his lifetime. But he can't also betray his best friend. He suffered deeply. Meanwhile, he was caught by the police and put in prison. Having a lot of time there, he made a movie scenario first. He thought it was difficult, but the experience motivated him to create something which he can exhibit to people. He thought the photograph was better and he was interested in it. After getting out of prison, he studied the photography in a night school. Till now, he had solo exhibitions three times and published Luminance of Streets in 2007. His photographic objects are mainly the people who are slightly unusual or strange, in terms of not only their looking but also their occupations. This is because such people are disappearing as time goes on. Hoshi wants to record their atmosphere by taking pictures.

 He says, of course he is vary happy when people praise his works, but the most important purpose of thinking pictures is to recognize himself as he is at the moment when he pushes the shutter. Every time he see his each work, he can remember what he was thinking when he pushed the shutter. He says ''Thanks for this process, I began to be able to live for the moment.''  I appreciate his cooperation of telling half his life very honestly. He was kind enough to make us want to know him more. 

 Another member: 

The image at the top of the page is also the cover picture of his book entitled “Luminance of Streets” (「街の火」in Japanese) that includes photos that were approximately taken from 1999 to 2006. Without any background information and just by looking at the image, it is nearly impossible to spot the relationship between the photographer and the woman and the boy respectively. Fortunately, Hoshi told us in the interview that the beautiful woman on the right side is his sister, and that the boy on the left is her son.

I think they are sitting in a taxi, firstly because of the typical white back seat cover that you can find in almost all Japanese taxis, secondly because of the two headrests. I also think that the upper left area is the rear window of a car.

The image as a whole is well balanced, and the subjects (woman & boy) can be divided into two vertical parts. This bisects the viewer's attention and makes the picture even more interesting. Besides, it was shot from the eye level. Because most of us normally view the world from eye level, photos taken at such an angle have a familiar effect and convey a lot of realism. The knitting pattern of the back seat cover blends well with the pattern of the woman’s high-contrast dress. Aside from that, the plain faces form a nice contrast with the other elements. As for the lighting, it is neither high key nor low key, and therefore nothing special. Hoshi told us that he usually does not pay much attention to lighting. It is also worth mentioning that the picture has only one main layer in the foreground. There is no clearly recognizable background layer, because the whole backseat is acting as a non-transparent frame. Eventually, after getting an overview of the picture, the final resting point of the viewer’s eye is the lower right corner. Noteworthy is the fact that the woman is playing with her wedding band. From a psychological point of view, fiddling with the wedding band usually indicates marital problems, so chances are quite high that she is suffering some sort of inner disunity. As mentioned earlier, during his youth, Hoshi himself sold drugs to make ends meet. To the outside, he acted vigorously, but on the inside, he was weak and disintegrated. Every time when his inner void and his desperation became too huge, he went out to visit the busy streets of 歌舞伎町 or other nightlife districts to temporarily escape his anguish of despair. And on some day, he simply started to take pictures of random individuals.

I could be completely wrong, but my personal opinion is, that in his earlier years, the main impetus was to find and to take pictures of “lost people” who are looking for relief or salvation, just like him. Or in other words, finding affirmation and hope in the hopelessness of other people. Every single one of Hoshi’s earlier photographs is a piece of a puzzle, and by putting them all together, the viewer can recreate the image of Hoshi’s ideal town, which, in turn, is an allegory for his inner world. The “aura” of the town is raw, dangerous, sometimes sexy and sometimes very irritating. Connoisseurs might even find some similarities to the works of Daido Moriyama.
All  his images for the book were taken with a Nikon FM2 camera.  When we visited the Third District Gallery a few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to interview Hoshi Haruto, the man behind the ‘St. Photo Exhibition’ series. He was very frank and he patiently listened to our admittedly amateurish questions. While leafing through his book, which was by the way published in 2007, we realized that unlike his current photographs, all of his previous photos were in black and white. We asked him what has caused the sudden and somewhat radical change in style and the answer was, that he just wanted to bring down the curtain on the past. 

Finally, this group member's opinion of the works:
I looked at a photo. There are people in the photo but seem not the kind of people I usually interact or see. Eyes tell me something. They are lethargic, indifferent, or angry.

This is a photograph of Hoshi Haruto: Five young kids are in the street, four of them are sitting on the rock, one of them is standing beside them and in his hand, he has a cigarette. A girl who sits far right is doing something with a cell phone, the guy who sits next to her looking at somewhere, and both of them don’t look at the camera lens. As for the other two guys who sit on the rock, we can see their face. Left side guy pouts his mouth and right side guy shows his teeth, and his eyes looking at left side. They still pretend to be strong and wild, but they actually feel some kind of nervousness. None of them are looking at the lens but they are aware of the camera. Haruto also takes photos of the homeless, people who walks around the bar, prostitutes, and young people. He has a photograph of five young girls on the street. These girls don’t even care about the camera as they don’t care about the world. He often uses people who are in the situation that they can’t connect well with society which we try to ignore or pretend  not to see. Haruto directs a spotlight on to them and make us to notice.  

Group 3 'Mono' Reviews: 'Along the Sobu Line' at Up Field Gallery

A member begins:

  Our group 3 went to Up Field Gallery in Suidobashi. It takes only 3 minutes to go there from Suidobashi station. The gallery is on the 3^rd floor of an old building. It was a little bit difficult for us to find the gallery because there were some similar buildings. We took a small elevator to the 3^rd floor. The gallery is not so big and almost quiet so we could enjoy photographs slowly and carefully. There were about sixty photographs. Some people were also in the gallery.

Another tells us about the gallery, layout, and show:

 You can use JR sobu line, Hanzomon line, or Tozai line so as to get to the gallery. It takes three-minute walk from Suidobashi Station. Or it takes ten-minute walk from Kudanshita Station. When I arrived at the gallery, I thought it difficult to find. From a sketch of the gallery, we can see like this from the top: The total length of the wall is 30 meters. The height from the floor to the ceiling is 3 meters. There is a room of 42.6 square meters. I thought the room was small. The lights are incandescent lamps. When I entered the room, what I thought interesting was that two yellow lines were painted on the white walls. Yellow lines are known as a characteristic of JR sobu line. And I also thought it interesting that photographs were hanged on the wall like windows of a train!

The first member returns:

 We saw the show; titled “Along the SobuLine”. The Sobu line is a kind of train, which runs between Chiba and Tokyo. I take this line every day because the Sobu line passes Yotsuya station and Shinkemigawa station, the nearest station where I live now. So I’m very familiar with the Sobu line. By going to Up Field gallery to Suidobashi station, Sobu line also is being used.

 The photographer is Tatsumi Yamaguchi. He was born in Aichi in 1969 and now he lives in Saitama. He studied design at Tokyo University of the Arts and graduated in 1998. His photographs were taken nearby train stations. His way of taking photograph is get into the train which he chose, get off each station, walk around the station and take photographs. Sometime he takes photographs from inside the train. We asked him the reason why he takes photographs around the station.

According to him, when he doesn’t know what picture he should take, it suddenly came to his idea, abruptly inspired by taking pictures nearby the train station. He already took photographs along Keihintohoku line and Yamanote line and he held exhibitions of these pictures in 2008 and 2011.

  He was very kind. He talked with everybody who visited his show. We talked with him a little, and then he showed us all photographs he took along the Sobu line. Moreover, he gave us a cup of tea and gave us postcards of his pictures as souvenirs.

 The third group member also comments on the gallery, layout and show:

I felt that the building was dark and a little uncomfortable for me to stay in for hours.  However, as soon as we entered the gallery, that feeling faded completely.  The gallery was bright, and I felt very comfortable while I stayed there.  There are five people other than us when we arrived at the gallery.

The name of the show was ‘Along the Sobe Line.’  We went to the gallery on the last day of the show.  The pictures that he took between Tsudanuma Station and Mitaka Station were exhibited.  There were about sixty pictures, and they were displayed in a unique way.  Two yellow lines were painted on the white wall, and almost all the pictures were placed between them.  The frames of the pictures were white rounded square.  This arrangement made us feel as if we were looking out of the train window.  Also, we could hear the sound of trains running when we were in the gallery.

This picture was taken at a shopping street in Kameido.  An old woman is sitting on the street and looking at a woman who sells rice balls.  It seems that the old woman is talking to the woman, and the woman is listening to the old woman.  There is another listener besides the woman: a cat is sitting under the counter of the shop, and listening to what the old woman says.  I can feel the friendly atmosphere of the shitamachi section from this picture.  Not only from this but from all the photographs of people he took, I can feel warm humanity.  That is why I like the photographs of people that he took.  I thought his kindness appears on his photographs. The photographers work can also be found here.

'Sleepy Fish' (Group 2) Surface for the 'Portrait Gallery'

  Our group went to a gallery, the Portrait Gallery.  It is located near Sophia University, about a five minute walk from the Yotsuya station, near the Cozy Corner.  It is on the fifth floor of a book store.  The gallery is open everyday, from ten to six except on Golden Week and the days before and after the New Year.

 The Portrait Gallery was organized by the Japan Photo Culture Association which has over three thousand galleries. This gallery was built in July 2002. The gallery was built to help the Japanese culture prosper by using photographs.  For this reason, the gallery exhibits works that were taken by both professional and amateur photographers.

When we went to this gallery, a photo club named Pleasant Club was exhibiting photographs.  This club was established in October 1921, and this exhibition was held to celebrate their ninetieth anniversary. The members include professional, ex-professional, and amateur photographers.  Since there are many people of different ages in this club, the photographs are taken by both film and digital cameras.  There were also both monochrome and colored photographs.  There were over fifty photographs exhibited, and some pictures were ones taken in the Taisho era.

 Another member describes meeting a photographer there:

  I would like to write about a photographer, Akihiro Murayama. Fortunately when we go to this gallery, we were able to meet him and have time to talk to him. Actually he was kind enough to tell us his life story and how he took photographs.

  First, I will write about his life style. He told us that He got interested in photography when he was young because his father was also a photographer. So he had chance to take photographs in his childhood. He now has special feelings for photograph because he has done it for such a long time. But he has not gone to any special art school, he has studied photograph by himself. At present, he belongs to a photograph club, Pleasant Club, which was founded in 1921 and this year this photograph club celebrates their ninetieth anniversary of the foundation. If you want to take part in this photograph club, feel free to make a contact with them. Their office is placed in Setagaya-ku. This time after visiting this art portrait gallery, I learned that being a photographer is not only way to become a professional. Even though Akihiro Murayama is an amateur photographer, his work is very beautiful and I think he is professional photographer. 

This member writes about an image seen at the gallery:

I will write about a photograph taken by Akihiro Murayama. He was at the gallery so we asked him about the picture. The picture was taken at a shrine’s pond in spring. Petals are on the surface and grasses are growing around. We can also see the wave on the surface. According to Akihiro, that wave was made by carp. Carp swam swiftly and the wave’s shape was made circle. The title of the picture is “The last curtain of dance”. I could not understand the meaning of this title. However, this title has deep meaning. “dance” implies “Petals” and “the last curtain” means that petals will sink in the pond at last. Akihiro wanted to say that petals move slowly and that slow moves are beautiful.

Akihiro said that he waited hours and hours to take this one shot. He often goes to

this shrine and takes pictures at the pond. He had taken this shot with color film but

after he took it, he changed the color to black and white. Monochromatic picture shows cool atmosphere than color picture. I could not believe that this picture was taken by amateur. Akihiro’s photographic technique are no inferior to a first class photographer.

'Buddha', Group 10's July Visit to Kenji Haga's Show at Nikon Salon

Our group “Buddha” visited a gallery in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The gallery, Nikon Salon bis Shinjuku, is located in the 28^th floor of Shinjuku L tower, where you can view the city of Tokyo from high-leveled position. This gallery is rented for the photographer to set a gallery and the show has been changed off every weeks.

A show by Kenji Haga was held between July 14^th and 20^th. The title: (季節は巡る), Kisetsuha Meguru, means seasons go around. Kenji Haga, loves to take  photos of scenery and landscape. The space provided for the show had four walls. Fortunately, we got to meet the photographer at the gallery and he was kind enough to let us have an  interview with him and let us know something interesting.

He took these photographs from Hokkaido to Ishigakijima. He loves the cycle of the seasons and makes the round to take photographs of it in Japan. He favors all his photographs equally; therefore all his displayed photographs are the same size. He classified the photographs into the four seasons in Japan: spring, summer, fall, and winter. He displayed the pictures of spring in one walls, summer in other wall, and so on. Since fall is his favorite season of all, he used the wall with the biggest  space for that season. Kenji Haga’s photography shows the Japanese four seasons, for example, “Fall Flows” expresses the beauty of fallen leaves and the murmur of a stream. Among the photograph taken in fall, morning and early evening are the best timing to take pictures for Kenji. He said, “I love to take photograph of mornings and late evenings because these times have many different shades of colors. Every one seconds, the scenery changes I really enjoy shooting that moment.” As I can understand his word, there were lots of photograph of sunrises and sunsets in the show. Kenji has several points that he really wants to care about when holding a show. One is that he doesn’t only display photographs, he also hang a boards with poems on them, written about seasons, his children, and feelings in daily life. The poems are not directly related to the artworks that are displayed with, but together they help to make the style of the show. . Since the accident of the Nuclear Power Plants in Fukushima, he cannot use spotlights as he likes. Finally, is the background music. When we visited the show “Silk road” by Kitaro(喜多郎), a famous Japanese musician, was being played. Kenji is being particular of making the atmosphere of the show comfortable and quiet. 

Group 3, Mono, visits 'Parallelismo' at the Ricoh Ring Cube Gallery

Our group went to Ricoh Photo Gallery Ring Cube.  The gallery is located in Ginza.  It is managed by Ricoh, a maker of office automation equipment and cameras.  The gallery consists of two floors.  As the name Ring Cube shows, the shape of the floors is circle.  On one floor,  are many kinds of cameras made by Ricoh are displayed.  We can know the history of their products through the showing...

We saw the show which was called “Parallelismo”. The photographer of this show was Tomoyuki Suzuki. Mr. Suzuki was born in Tokyo in 1963. He studied architecture in university and worked as architect before he became photographer. When he worked as architect, he found the way of “Parallelismo”, as the best way to represent scenes, especially a row of houses and streets accurately on paper. I had never seen such unique pictures before. All photographs in “Parallelismo” had a narrow and long shape. They look like as if they are each one picture, but actually, each of them is made from many pictures.

Usually, we think picture is an image which was cut out a part of scene from whole seen. But in “Parallelismo”, Mr. Suzuki tried to take whole scene into one picture. Then, he tried to take pictures while he was moving little by little and united those pictures to make one. Although it is difficult to unite and arrange many pictures to resemble in one picture, he can do it. Because he studied architecture, he knows about structure of buildings and knows how to put things together. So he can make one whole scene from many pieces of scene. In one picture, Mr. Suzuki started taking the street from the left side in the daytime because on the left side, the sky is lighter than right side. And two street lamps in left side are not lighted. The right side of this picture was taken in the evening because the sky is darker than left side and street lamps in right side are lighted. It is so beautiful that the sky gets dark and street lamps are lighted gradually. If this is not “Parallelismo” picture, it is impossible to take those transitions in one picture. “Parallelismo” enables not only to make one whole scene from many pieces of scene, but also enable to describe time flow in one picture. I think this is the most appeal of the way of “Parallelismo”...

Before Parallelismo was invented, it was impossible to take a wide picture like the ones on display.  Even if you move your camera, you cannot take a picture well.  The three-dimensional world is dominated by perspective.  As Leonard da Vinci showed in The Last Supper, a vanish point is only one in each picture.  That is the problem.  If you move your camera, the pictures will be different images that have different perspective, and the relations of each other's perspective will fall into disorder.  You also cannot make a complete picture even if you only line the pictures up in a row. Parallelismo solves this problem.  This technique needs software named Photoshop.  First, you take pictures that become one of the sections of a panoramic photograph.  Second, you correct the distortions of the pictures and join them with Photoshop.  In this way, such a natural panoramic photograph is produced.

 As always, we welcome comments and feedback

In Mid-June Group 6, G6 , Traveled to the Konica Minolta Plaza Gallery

      On Friday, June 17th I and my group members went to the gallery named  Konica Minolta Plaza and which is located in Shinjuku. It was raining, but a rainy day might be suitablefor seeing the exhibition, 'AQUA'The gallery is on 4^th floor of Gucci store building which is next to ‘Big Camera’. The gallery was quite small. The gallery was divided as 3 small, different areas. The first area was for displaying David Doubilet’s photography and second area was for playing underwater world video.(I am not sure that the movie was filmed by David Doubilet or not.) The last area was displaying diving suit (not David’s) and some knowledge of diving and ocean. Even though it is a small gallery, but the area where the photographs are displayed was clean and simple interior, so that people can focus on the photos. The whole atmosphere of the gallery was calm, but it is not the calm that people feel awkwardness to visit at all. (Oh, I should have to tell you that the greatest thing about this gallery was that it was free, so anyone can go and see the show, even though you don’t have any money!) 

Anyway, when I and my group members visited the gallery, it was holding the American photographer David Doubilet’s exhibition. The photographs at the gallery were mostly about our underwater world. His main work of photos is for ‘National Geography ‘. Therefore, the figures that he took are mostly nature and animals which live in water.  As I’ve mentioned, He dives to take pictures, or he takes pictures from high altitude. As I mentioned earlier, the photographs are mainly about underwater creatures and underwater world. Therefore, most photos have mysterious and cool atmosphere.

There were 31 unique photographs and I would like to introduce few of them. To describe the structure of this picture, the diver is the center of the picture and around him schools of cardinal fish make a circle. This structure is pretty balanced. Moreover, the picture was taken against the light, so it made a silhouette of diver and fish, however, the sun lights wire coral and the color of wire coral popped out. Diver and fish versus wire coral makes the contrast and it contributes the mysterious atmosphere. All these elements gathered and made the watchers feel this atmosphere. Thanks to his work, we are able to see the mysterious world of ocean and nature. Therefore, I think it will be great opportunity to see the nature and know about it. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take a picture of his works so I found David’s web page which you can see some of his works...

Another member describes some of the images...

About a picture of turtle.

In the picture, there was a big turtle alone apparently. But there are two remoras which are trying to get a little share of big turtle’s left over. But the turtle does not seem to be caring about them at all. He is relaxing his limbs against the back ground of blue water. The water is shining by the reflection of sunlight. The picture was taken in the water. When the photographer took the picture, he was in the deeper water than turtle. He looked up to take picture. The glow of shiny greenish water and the darkness of the deep sea emphasize on their color each other. The turtle looks like an astronaut who is swimming in the cosmic space.

About a picture of anemone fish

In the picture there is a big bright orange fish which has comical large eyes. It occupies about the half of the picture. People might not notice on first sight though, in the lower half of the picture, the thing which looks like coral or seaweed is actually fries just trying come out from eggs. The photographer took a picture of anemone fish guarding its eggs. By noticing the fact from the title of this picture or the picture itself, the comical eye of the fish changes into the eye filled with love. But still the hundreds of eyes of fries seems gross to me.

About a picture of Australian seal

The upper half of the picture is occupied with really clear water, the lower half of the picture is occupied with fresh green seaweed. Since the water is so clear, the picture seems as if it had been taken on the ground. There are more than five Australian seals in this picture their behavior is airy and elegant. People cannot imagine that their weight is actually about 2000 pounds. The sunlight pours into the bottom of the sea is really beautiful. Seaweeds are shining in the sunlight.

About the picture of school of Barracuda

There are thousands of Barracuda surrounding a diver. Diver is at the center of a circle at intervals of about two or three meter. The school of barracuda swims in good order. Around the circle there is a ripple also drawing circle. The contrast of dark blue, water and water shines by reflection of sunlight is beautiful...

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Group 4, Nakayoshinri, Goes to 247 Roonee Gallery

 Early this past Summer, our group went a show called “the proof of love’(愛の証明）by Teruya Inaba. The direction of this gallery was really hard to find because it was in the really minor street in Yotsuya. The gallery was smaller than I thought (actually it was only a one-room-gallery), but it had a lot of pictures that made me happy and excited...

‘The proof of love’ was held at the gallery ‘Roonee 247 photography’ in Yotsuya. The gallery was located about 10 minutes walk from Yotsuya 3chome station. It was in the quiet street in Yotsuya 4chome. There were a lot of houses in the street. Because it was behind the main street, if we did not pay much attention, we may overlook the gallery...

The gallery is located in a quiet street near Yotsuya-sanchome station. The outward appearance of the building is so subdued that we could fail to notice its existence unless we carefully pay attention. Inside of the building, there is a small and calm room...

This exhibition was held by Inaba Teruya. He was born at Yokohama in 1970.  After he graduates Meiji University, he entered Japan Photograph Academy and study about photograph there. The concept of the exhibition is expressing his love for his family, daily life, plants, his life and the world. Twenty seven photographs taken by Teruya Inaba are displayed on the wall of the room. All photographs are colored and 6×6 format. Teruya Inaba has been acting as a photographer for 10 years...

He sized the photographs to make viewers think they are looking into his garden. In fact, the white margin outside the photographs and the photographs’ contrast made viewers feel looking into his garden. The white margin is like a window. By doing so, he intended to make viewers feel his galley fan...

The gallery was full of warm atmosphere which the photographs release.  Flowers, fruit being beard on the trees at the garden, greenery on flowerpots and ground. The flowers were orange, red, pink, white, violet and yellow. They were hibiscuses, poinsettia, violets, hydrangeas, sunflowers and citruses. On the picture there was purple printing ink which was used to express the dark black colors. He said “This photo is the proof of his love for his family, nature, world, life, normal days, and photograph.”  He told that he wanted us to feel something about his small world and enjoy.A person who knows Inaba well says” His charm is his work which shows pure delight of new discovery.” “Please look at not only what is taken but also photo itself and enjoy.”...

From Inaba’s website, he said that the pictures represent the love for his family, lifestyle, plants, life, world, and his photographs. Even though each picture　is small, viewers can feel the strangeness of love for each subject　because all of them have a object that is highly focused in the center.　Also, blurry edges makes the viewers feel like being caught into the pictures and be focused on the subject...

Relating to his theme, he left messages on the desk of the gallery. According to it, for him: "Love is seeing, thinking and desire to know. Summer is light and shade and the sexy season in which the contrast between life and death is extreme. The garden in his house is one of the windows to outside. The neighborhood wayside is an edge to the outside world. Flowers are creatures which move very slowly, is taciturn, strong, formidable and soft. Taking pictures is a way to prove love. A family is where one comes from. Daily things are the world and the time which is seen as a succession. The world is a existence in people's cognition. Proof of love itself has no sense and reason. Having fun is dancing. Exhibiting is something like an initiation to celebrate and dedicate harvest"...

I thought his photographs were deep and fantastical. At first, I felt photographs had depth; I got an impression as if I had looked at 3-D pictures. The focus plays very effective role. Also, each picture has both parts of light and shadow. Actually, there were dreamy atmosphere about those photographs. The tones of his photographs are fantastical. For example, vividly colored petals are striking by making a comparison with dark colored blades behind them. Shaded blades reminded me of the rough touch of a paint brush, so I think his pictures are like paintings...

This gallery shows Inaba's unique personality. In fact, when I left the gallery, I didn't think that I passionately wanted to go back again. However, now I feel like going to the gallery again and looking at the photographs more. I think it's strange and amazing. 

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