MetaFilter posts tagged with Japan and photography

Exploding bombs frequently caused so much vibration of photo enlargers that prints blurred and had to be remade

unliteral — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:07:54 -0800

The Pacific War Photographs of Pfc Glenn W. Eve — "In the summer of 1942, the U.S. Army called up a skinny California boy barely out of his teens. But at 5’9’’ and 125 pounds, Private Glenn W. Eve was deemed unfit for combat. He might have spent the duration of World War II at a desk, except that he had field skills the Army needed – he was a gifted artist, draftsman and photographer who'd spent the previous four years working for the Walt Disney Co. In July 1944, they promoted him to private first class (Pfc) and assigned him to the Signal Photo Corps, bound for the Pacific to document the war. This is his collection, never before published. All comments in quotes are Pfc Eve's, written on the back of the photo."

J'akuze

michaelh — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 13:11:50 -0800

Photographs of a Yakuza gang and a description of their way of life in an interview with Anton Kusters. Includes the photography advice: "To not take photos was a sign of weakness."

7 Days in Tokyo

reenum — Sun, 06 May 2012 19:44:08 -0800

Pascal Ken, after taking several trips to Japan between 2007 and 2011, took some beautiful, dreamlike infrared photos of Tokyo.

Tiltshift Japan ist Krieg

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:34:25 -0800

It's the weekend according to UNIQLO CALENDAR, portraying the four seasons and forty-seven prefectures of Tiltshift Timelapse Japan. Music by Fantastic Plastic Machine who did internet classic UNIQLOCK. [Previous]

"In fact, it is so untouched that there’s a real sense the students will suddenly return. Each and every one of the small class charging in from the entrance."

jbickers — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 07:42:24 -0800

"Pretty much all haikyo that contain items related to the building’s past are interesting. On the odd occasion even empty structures are too. But while memory-filled houses and sorry-looking snake centres are fascinating in their own very different ways, there’s arguably something that little bit special about a long-abandoned school." An abandoned but perfectly preserved Japanese school. From the article: "In reality, however, it’s an awfully long time since any students studied in this room — 37 years ago to be exact. Under an old procedure that gave away forest land as a ‘gift’ from the Imperial House — an antiquated practice that was eventually superseded by the National Forest system — the mountain village that surrounds the school began life back in 1907. The school, on the other hand, was apparently founded in the previous century, in 1873. Quite why it would have been built in such an out of the way spot really isn’t clear, but with the arrival of the village 34 years later, its location was ideal."

Photographic Immortality

zarq — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 09:35:00 -0800

The Burns Archive is a collection of over 700,000 historical photographs that document disturbing subject matter: obsolete medical practices and experiments, death, disease, disasters, crime, revolutions, riots and war. Newsweek posted a select gallery this past October, as well as a video interview and walk-through with curator and collector Dr. Stanley B. Burns, a New York opthalmologist. (Via) (Content at links may be disturbing to some.) Blog, which notes that an exhibition of photos, "Sleeping Beauties" is currently being shown at the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery in Baltimore. Books with photos from the collection: * Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement in Memorial Photography American and European Traditions * News Art: Manipulated Photographs from the Burns Archive * Deadly Intent: Crime & Punishment Photographs from the Burns Archive * Geisha: A Photographic History, 1872-1912

Unshelved.

jardinier — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:22:29 -0800

Photos from all over Japan of libraries after the earthquake. (Via) "Books shaken to the floor provide a good visual measurement of the power of the quake: we can easily visualize how the rows looked before, how nice and tidy they were, and we can imagine the sort of force needed to dislodge them. But the images also allow us to glimpse the destruction in a relatively benign environment—books are not people. We hope that the libraries’ caretakers are safe, and, in the buildings where only the books, not the shelves, have tumbled, we reassure ourselves that they are. In many of these photos, we can easily envision someone coming along to set things right. These are images of hope, as much as of disaster, and they speak to the idea that the things most fundamental to a culture—in this case, its codified knowledge—have not been lost." Macy Halford, The New Yorker

Yowayowa Camera Women Diary

chunking express — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 04:52:39 -0800

Yowayowa Camera Women Diary. An enjoyable photoblog: lots of jumping and rubber rain boots.

Target Tokyo

unliteral — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 21:13:52 -0800

Japan Air Raids "is an ongoing project to build a digital archive dedicated to the international dissemination of information about the World War II air raids against Japan." They have seeded it with quite a bit of material (e.g. Target Tokyo, narrated by Ronald Reagan in the documentary and propaganda section) and promise there is much more to come. [Warning, some images may disturb] [via]

Dammit, I can smell the rooms in your pictures, Roy

KokuRyu — Sat, 08 May 2010 10:36:18 -0800

Yoshida-ryo: Dilapidated, decrepit and downright dirty. A photo essay about a Kyoto University dormitory first built in 1913 that still houses student squatters for the ultra low price of ¥2,500 (about USD$25) a month. No wonder it looks like this Roy Berman, founder of the consistently excellent Japan-focused blog, Mutant Frog Travelogue, provides some background about the CNN assignment: Little known outside of Kyoto is the fact that Kyoto University has the last remaining truly old style dormitory, constructed in the late Meiji era timber construction style. Opened in 1913, Yoshida-ryo (吉田寮) still exists nearly 100 years later despite decades of attempts by the school to raze it and replace it with a less scummy and earthquake-unsafe bland concrete box. A relic in both architectural and social terms, it exists today in a weird nebulous state somewhere between an official school dormitory and a giant squat-house. CNN Go is edited by David Marx (aka Marxy), who is a founder of another excellent online journal, Neojaponisme; MeFi's own No-sword is a contributor.

Every Day is a Good Day

misozaki — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:05:46 -0800

Grandma and cat. Miyoko Ihara's award-winning photos of her 85-year-old grandma Misao and her cat Fukumaru. Her color works Like Flowers. These and other photos can be found from the links here. See also: Shado Collective.

Stray Cats in Tokyo

misozaki — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:45:49 -0800

Stray Cats in Tokyo as seen by professional photographers. The group project moved from here, where there are lots more. More from the individual photographers, though not just in Tokyo.

Adolfo Farsari

shakespeherian — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:30:42 -0800

In the 1880s at a time when most Europeans were denied access to the Japanese interior an Italian photographer managed to capture many images of Old Japan. These were then beautifully and realistically hand painted and serve as a remarkable record of a world long since disappeared. Victorian-era photos of Japan.

Formosan aborigines

tellurian — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:34:20 -0800

Formosa – photographed by Torii Ryuzo.

Hiroshi Watanabe

vronsky — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:01:04 -0800

Hiroshi Watanabe -- Love Point::Suo Sarumawashi::Ideology in Paradise::"I see angels every day"::Kabuki Players::Japanese Studies::Northern Places::Species Among Us

Urban exploration Japan: abandoned mining town

planetkyoto — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 06:34:53 -0800

Urban exploration Japan: abandoned mining town. Step into the doctor's office for a dose of creepy. Three-part photo essay. "Haikyo" in the blog post title means "ruins".

A blog about Japanese photography seen from abroad.

chunking express — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:38:20 -0800

A blog about Japanese photography seen from abroad. The site hasn't been updated in quite some time, but it is still full of a lot of interesting stuff.

“Sever the ignorant doubt in your heart with the sword of self-knowledge

KokuRyu — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:39:13 -0800

Tsukiji knife photos by Tony McNicol. List of published articles. List of selected photo galleries. I’ve been taking photos of a 240 year old knife shop in Tsukiji fish market.... If you buy a knife at the shop you can bring it back to be sharpened for free. Website bio: Tony McNicol is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Tokyo (who has) been living in Japan for almost 8 years, working as a freelance journalist for over four years. (His) writing and photos have appeared in publications including National Geographic News, Discover Magazine, Wired Magazine, the Japan Times, the JAL and ANA inflight magazines and the Japanese-language edition of Newsweek. And a few more!

Japan through wonderful vintage photos

madamjujujive — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:30:07 -0800

Vintage 3-D stereoviews of old Japan, Meiji and Taisho era swimsuit girls, working people, geisha, and kids, old Japan salt prints, dozens of T. Enami glass slides, and strange or offbeat images: all part of a vast and superb collection of Japanese photos from 1862 to 1930 by flickr user Okinawa Soba. More on the work of T-Enami, "King of the Stereoview, Master of the Lantern-Slide And Prolific, Anonymous Contributor To the World of Yokohama Album Views"

The Japanese Garden

Effigy2000 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:54:57 -0800

Paradise: The Gardens of Tokyo. A collection of amazing photographs of Japanese gardens as taken by Tim Porter. Impressed and want to see more Japanese gardens? Look here and here for more links to more photos of some beautiful Japanese-style gardens from around the world. For further reading, check out Meditations on the Japanese Garden and The Modern Japanese Garden. And if after all of that you feel inspired to turn your garden into a Japanese garden of your own, The Japanese Garden Journal has you covered. Mind you, building the bridge sounds kind of tricky...

They carried the joys and sorrows of those living with the sea

tellurian — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:45:52 -0800

Iwase Yoshiyuki "In the late 1920s, young Yoshiyuki received an early Kodak camera as a gift. Since the main livelihood of the town came from the sea, he gravitated there, and soon found a passion for "the simple, even primitive beauty" of ama – girls and women who harvested seaweed, turban shells and abalone from beneath the coastal waters." "By the late 1960s, they had disappeared. This body of work stands as the final, most comprehensive visual document of the life and work of these divers." [NSFW] Note: the Ama section has more than the 15 previews shown, when you enter the slide show (there are 45).

Old Folks' Homes

ceiriog — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:30:05 -0800

Bert Teunissen - Domestic Landscapes. Photographs of (mostly) senior citizens in their living rooms and kitchens. Since 1996, Dutch photographer Bert Teunissen has been travelling around western Europe, and more recently Japan, making portraits of people living in houses built before electricity was commonplace. His travel diaries give more background, and more photos of the houses. Article in the IHT from last April.

First of the photojournalists

Abiezer — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:55:43 -0800

Japanese places and people photographed by Felice Beato, a pioneer 19th century photographer who documented the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny and the Anglo-French military intervention in China before opening a studio in Yokohama in 1863. He also seems to have been the first photographer in Korea.Wikipedia NYPL archive First two links are units in MIT's Visualizing Cultures project.

Lost Places in Japan

stavrosthewonderchicken — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:31:24 -0800

Lost Places in Japan

Everyone is crossing a line

spock — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:45:03 -0800

"What is so striking about the work is that EVERYONE is crossing a line: The couples who are engaged in sex in public, the Peeping Toms who trespass on that intimacy, the photographer who has betrayed his acquaintance's trust, and of course US -- so willing to look at what was not meant for us to see." See also: NYTimes slideshow Layers of Voyeurism (Via boingboing) SFW, IMHO