This is a map of the route that I traveled this summer. You can see it in more detail, too. I learned a whole bunch of things on the trip, some relating to photography, some not. After spending quite a bit of time in the inaka (countryside) I have a much different view of Tokyo. My Japanese is improved. I met a bunch of photographers. I can highly recommend Matsumoto as a place to visit. I have a lot of film to develop sitting in my fridge.

My attitude towards the internet is changing. I am more skeptical of “internet culture,” at least as it relates to photography. I hear this view expressed more often, although only a little bit online. I’m less and less sure why people write blogs, let alone read them. I’m more and more sure of canceling my home internet service. I’m gonna try reading books again instead of RSS and see how that affects my blogging.

There are some things I want to discuss on this blog:
– What is photography?
– What do we mean when we say “photography”?
– The Higashikawa photo festival
– How does the concept of “flow” relate to photography?
– These, you know, among other things

My friend Phillip took this picture of me at a top secret spot in Tokyo where the light you’re seeing is “naturally occurring.”

Philip is a photography student at San Jose State, and he was in Japan for a month long program this summer. I can’t imagine there’s a better place to spend a month as a photography student than Japan…

Back in February, I saw a very strong exhibit at Totem Pole by Takumi Ota. I’ve had some pictures of the show that Ota san sent to me sitting around for a really long time, so here they are:

I think it will be difficult to make out most of these images, and unfortunately they’re not on his website either. Still, you can get a sense of what the excellent Totem Pole Photo Gallery looks like, and maybe these pictures will pique your interest to check out the other good work that Ota san has up on his site.