Once again I am pained to miss a show at Studio 35 Minutes. This time Jun Tsunoda (painter, art director [the good kind], senpai to your favorite Japanese artist of the last 20 years) is showing drawings, or writings, that he’s done on top of proofs of books by Moriyama, Hosoe, Suda and so on. All the information is up there. Go!

I’m already very late to post this, the show is only up for a few more days, but if nothing else I want to leave the flyer here as a reminder to investigate what Shioda is getting up to. (Is it too easy to link this to surrealism? But what does surrealist photography in Japan ¹ mean, anyway?) I wonder if Animal Sports Puzzle ² is prohibitively expensive…

I’m excited to announce a show coming up at 35 Minutes: Yu Ukai and Yuhki Touyama’s first collaboration, just called “Exhibit #1.” Touyama and Ukai are two excellent young photographers, and if all goes well they will be holding monthly, experimental exhibits at 35 Minutes. There is an opening party on Friday, February 3rd, more information is below.

スタジオ３５分のお知らせします。若手の頭山ゆう紀さんと鵜飼悠さんが出発のコラボレーション写真展をやってます。二人はとてもいい写真家で僕はわくわくします。詳しい情報は下記です：

鵜飼悠 頭山ゆう紀 展 1
Yu Ukai Yuhki Touyama #1

2012年2月3日(金)〜5日(日)
金曜日18時〜21時
土・日曜日12時〜19時

Fri February 3 – Sun February 5
Fri 6-9pm
Sat, Sun 12-7pm

Nakano-ku Kamitakada 5-47-8
東京都中野区上高田5-47-8

I met Denny Stocks when he first moved to Tokyo this summer. Much like when I first came here, he spent his early days chasing around to as many photo exhibits as possible, soaking everything up. He was, in short, a good dude to chat about with photography. He’d studied in Australia, and worked at a lab, but took a low-key approach to his work. I once heard Denny talk about the photo scene in Sydney, and how it was kind of a messy popularity contest. I thought it could be interesting to interview him about it, and he was game, but when we met up and started hanging out, it just seemed weird. Why force an interview like that with a friend? We spent the time talking about photography instead.

While I got very lucky in finding a work visa when I got here (thanks again Pat), Denny couldn’t catch a break, so he’s headed back to Australia in just a couple of days. Denny and his girlfriend Angelina post pictures together on a blog called Analogues Anonymous, so as a kind of sending-off, they put up a show at 35 Minutes last weekend called “A Gyu Don Life.” It was a good time, as the photo above more or less indicates.

Here are a few of Denny’s shots. He has a strong allergy to social networks, so you’ll just have to stalk his blog for the time being, or use that most ancient of social media, the email. Take care, Denny, hope to see you Down Under (can I say that?) sometime.

About a year ago I moved apartments in Tokyo, from Higashi-Koenji to Araiyakushimae. I realize that, for most people reading this post, the names of these neighborhoods mean very little. They’re not too far apart, though; I can bike from my new apartment to my old one in about 25 minutes. When I told people I was moving over there, I got a lot of weird looks, along the lines of, “why would you go through all the trouble of moving, if you’re practically living in the same place?” I didn’t think twice about it though. My new place is maybe a little bit smaller than my old one, but it’s cheaper, gets more light, and has a roof which is ideal for summer barbeques. The best part about it, though, is probably the neighborhood.

Araiyakushimae (新井薬師前) is like a slice of 1970s Japan which has been left untouched by the high-rise development that is common to so many Tokyo neighborhoods. It’s a laid back area, where the people have been extremely friendly—most of the businesses around here are not chains, so the people working there will talk to you in an open way. It’s a real change of pace from central Tokyo.

Around the time I was moving, my friend Cameron mentioned to me that there was a photography gallery in the area, called 35 Minutes. I had trouble believing it, since there’s not too much (if any) culture aimed at young people in the area. But he said he’d take me by when they did something, and sure enough there was an event over the summer, where I met some of the people who were running the gallery. There was a good atmosphere at the opening, and I went home feeling glad that there was actually a space for photography about 5 minutes outside my door.

I heard that the events at 35 Minutes were pretty infrequent, so I didn’t think too much of it. Later, I bumped into a couple of the members, at the local bar, and then sitting out side on a bench by the train station. We’d talk, and after meeting up a few times, Kota, the guy who runs the space, told me that it had become underused, and that he wanted to start putting on some more shows. He was also interested in connecting with photo communities outside of Japan, in whatever way possible. He suggested that we do something together, and I didn’t have to think twice about saying yes.

So here we are, it’s November and we’re putting on our first show as Studio 35 Minutes in a week or so. We’re showing some photographs by Benjamin Alexander Huseby, a photographer from Berlin. It’s part of a broader series of exhibits in Tokyo featuring Berlin artists. The flyer is pasted in at the bottom of the page, and the same information (plus a map) is available on our website.

I would be lying if I said I know exactly what I am trying to get out of this experience. I’m pretty sure that the gallery world is not a place I want to be forever, but this is a great chance to experiment, make mistakes, and hopefully put together a couple of interesting things. The gallery has a strong DIY past, you can see old flyers and publications at the old website. I’ll update here as more things come through.