Back to Japan
Yes, I am going back to Japan. Call me crazy, but I am far from done discovering the country that has so much touched me back in January when I visited for the first time in my life. I know I’ve barely scratched the surface, and I feel the urge to go deeper, understand and savor more. This time, with a wider set of contacts, who are becoming real friends, some met during the January trip, others here in Europe at photo events such as the Rencontres in Arles and Paris Photo.
Jingūmae, Shibuya-ku
So, here we go. I’m bringing the same camera and lenses: I really don’t want the equipment to get in the way, and the 28+50mm has become the natural extension of my eye. No second guessing which focal length could work better than the one attached to the Leicas. Just get on with looking and shooting.
What I do not know, is what I will see. The novelty factor of the first trip is over. Shall I now move even closer to my shooting habits here in Paris? Shall the many months spent this year reading Japanese authors have left an unconscious imprint in my mind, and influence what will trigger my attention? Same question for the work of Japanese photographers, classic, modern and emerging alike, that I have exposed myself to in the last months. I’m curious to discover myself, again, through the lens of my camera.
I plan to leave the raw files build up and marinate until I return home and start the editing work with some distance from the immediate emotions of the moment of shooting. But who knows, I may break the rules from time to time, and share an early peek every day or two, together with the anecdotes of daily happenings and encounters.
Stay tuned for this visual diary...