Inside / Outside.

Though the quality of these photos isn't great, one can get a sense for the relationship between interior and exterior spaces in traditional Japanese architecture. It's quite amazing to stand outside of a house, look through, and see greenery on the other side. Like most pre-modern architecture throughout the world, these buildings actually considered environmental factors such as sun exposure, cross-ventilation, light quality, etc.


T

Down by the Riverside.

Along Kyoto's Kamo-gawa River, throngs of young Japanese and foreigners gather at night around various street performers. On this evening, fire dancers informally collaborated with a drum circle, while a few meters away, inebriated businessmen plunged into the river as a few unimpressed girlfriends sat idly by.


T

The Color & Texture of Time.

What stories are told by a careful reading of surface qualities? Through growth, weathering, transmutation, or some other process, this set of photographs focuses on surfaces in Kyoto and Nara that reveal the passage of time.

Weathered Wood I.

Moss Colony.

Weathered Wood II.

Transformed by the Hand.
This wooden statue in Nara has been reputed to have healing powers, so oil from centuries of hands have transformed this into a haunting figure.

Two Roof Patterns.

Old Growth on Trellis.

Weathered Wood III.

Sand Deposition on Stone.

Inscriptions in Patinaed Bell Tower.

Transformed by the Hand II.
Centuries of contact with human hands have transformed the colors on these columns, but only within reach of the body.

Copper Shutter.

Oil on Clay.
These walls at Ryoan-ji were constructed from clay that was boiled in oil. Over time, the oil has seeped out of the clay to display beautiful patterns.

Light Patterns on Bamboo Fence.

T

Kyoto for the Soul.

Home to cultural and spiritual Japan, Kyoto provides a quick escape from the realities of urban Japan. Perhaps more than any other place in the world, Japan displays two distant ends of the spectrum - frenetic futuristic cities alongside ancient spiritual and cultural treasures.

Exemplifying Japan's cultural heritage, the castles, imperial villas, and temples lack the gaudiness (or, bling-bling) of their European counterparts constructed near the same time. Instead, the beauty often lies in the craftsmanship, simplicity, and harmonious relationship with nature itself. The next several journal entries will be devoted to Kyoto...

Enchanted Mountainside.
Fushimi-Inari Taisha provides one of the most unusual and ethereal experiences in all of Kyoto. The complex consists of five shrines and four kilometers of trails covered by orange torii gates. The torii gates are placed closely enough so that the path oddly reads as one unified space that contracts and expands as one progresses through the sequence. Additionally, the varying distances between torri allow light to permeate in dynamically changing patterns, with the mood dramatically altering as the day progresses. Simply put, the effect is intense!

Torii Shadows.

Sylvan Apparitions.
As one moves through the forest, distant torii gates appear as glowing orange apparitions amongst amongst the thick vegetation.

T