Let me preface this by reminding everyone that I am not in Japan to make photographs. I’m here to teach. Major difference. Will I make a few things along the way? Sure, but if I only made notes in my journal during my two weeks in Japan I would be perfectly happy. You see, I have a secret weapon. My imagination. I’m only beginning to understand the power that lies within. Like a spring from the deep, dark depths of the world, the imagination is waiting to flow. Some have discovered this, some have not. It represents true beauty. (At least I think so.)
Having said that, I do have a title, and a theme in place.
Discovered while doing some on-the-ground research in Tokyo. Let it come to you. That is my message about photographing here. Take what Japan gives. It’s all there waiting if you open your eyes, ears, and yes, your imagination. What I am making here is very different from what I make elsewhere. Japan isn’t Albania or Peru. Japan is supple. Underneath the noise and density and non-confrontational moments, there lies a beautiful contrast. Shinto vs Sony.
I have a new lens, a new strobe and am making pictures in a new way. Not new to the world, just new to me. There are residues of my early, early days, and that feels nice. A reminder of how things used to be. Arm stretched out to the left, hand held high, little puffs of light painting the scenes in front of me. Fears and insecurities, editors yelling quietly through furrowed brows and pleading eyes.
I find the intersections most interesting. And this is why I will be working in both color and black and white, working in pairs. My “American Candy,” will be build one spread at a time. Random. Detached. Looking for clues that bind the pairs, nothing more. Red and blue and yellow and green and all shades in between.
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Bingo!
Author
It’s happening.
Danielsan. Ah…”The power that lies within” also, the title of the song by John Lennon. Considered by the masters of music to be the “greatest” song ever written…Imagine that.
Author
Love that song. Used at the end of The Killing Fields.
I love letting the photos come to me. I’m lazy.
Author
that helps
So… this makes me curious… what are you saying to the workshop participant standing next to you? What are you teaching them? (Asking as someone who’d love to be a fly on the wall because if I learn as much as I do from you here, I can only imagine the gold your students are enjoying.)
Author
I’m saying something different to each student. Each person requires specific instruction, advice or questions. People provide clues through their images and their words, and It’s my job to pull out the most important things.
I feel Japan has so much to give that it may become overwhelming very soon. But letting things come to you, and you binding them with your covalent bond of imagination is awesome.
You are using a strobe. The night life in Japan is world famous. It will give the frames a different flash-freeze-fill effect.
But may I ask you, looking at Japan, why did this particular theme pop up in your head?
Author
That’s not my theme. My theme is something else. Using a fill light was my standard procedure for the first decade of my career, but it’s not my theme here. It’s’ just an advantage in certain situations.