Harold Davis's Blog, page 193

Wandering through gardens and temples

I spent the day wandering through and photographing some of Kyoto’s many gardens and temples with my camera. Mostly in the vast Nanzen-ji temple complex. I also walked the so-called Philosopher’s path (named after the twentieth century philosopher Kitaro), and visited Ginkaku-ji temple (sometimes called the Silver temple). One of the temple complexes I was most impressed with visually was Zenin-ji, which is a series of pavilions and pagodas built up the side of one of Kyoto’s steep mountain ravines. This is something out of a fairy tale, or maybe the Lord of the Rings.

Old Tree, Konchi-in Garden © Harold Davis

I am trying to come to grips with how this society can be so sincerely religious, yet at the same time so secular. The vast majority of Japanese would describe themselves as Buddhist and Shinto. Kenzo explained to me that Shinto takes care of earthly things—children’s rites of aging, having prosperity—while Buddhism takes care of death and spiritual matters, with this blending sometimes called “syncretic.” There is a logical disconnect between the beliefs of Buddhism and Shintoism, but many people believe in both, and Shinto shrines and purification rituals coexist quite happily with Buddhist temples.

Under the Aqueduct at Nanzen-ji © Harold Davis

At the same time, this is an incredibly secular society, where an amazing array of things are for sale in vending machines, and all taxi drivers wear jackets, ties and white gloves.

Shintoism is very straightforward in its ancestor worship, animism and openness at the temples about “being a business.” The logic is the same that I’ve heard in Western cults—if you want to be prosperous in your business, then you should make an offering to a faith that is also about prosperity. The animistic roots and totemic animal—the fox—of Shintoism come from early concerns with prosperity, where the fox ate the rat that ate the rice. The fox meant less rats and more rice to eat. This a faith that harks back to our early roots, and appeals to the part of each of us that identifies with the animal kingdom.

Reflections in a Japanese Garden © Harold Davis

I find myself less reconciled to the march of admission fees to all the Buddhist temples, however. Once you get into a given famous temple, having paid one admission fee, you are all to often hit up for another (substantial) fee to see this famous Shoji screen, or that famous inner garden.

A photography student of mine whose day job was as an ecumenical lawyer once noted to me that “all religions are businesses.” I suppose it does take money to keep up the ancient structures and elegant gardens. But I wish the crass commercialism of some these temples weren’t hidden behind elegance—and I find the Shinto approach at least more straightforward.

Hidden glimpses of the beautiful

What is it about Kyoto that makes it so attractive to Japanese, and to people from around the world? Why was Kyoto Steve Jobs’s favorite place to visit in the world? The attractions of both old and new Kyoto are very real—but elusive and mysterious.

Old Kyoto © Harold Davis

I think that Kyoto doesn’t give up her secrets easily. Part of the point is that there is always more here below the surface than meets the eye. It is a major religious center for two venerable faiths (Buddhism and Shintoism), a university city with a respect for education, and surprisingly sexy.

Beneath the contours of the modern Japanese city, and the mad dash of visitors from around the world with their checklists of important sites, lies a rich and strange culture that we can only catch glimpses of—a world seen in the relationship of shadow to contour, distant lights of ancient structures twinkling in the twilight, and a hidden glimpse of the beautiful.

Shadow of the Temple © Harold Davis

Noriko tries to poison me

Well, not really. In actual fact, Noriko took me to a wonderful, varied and seasonal dinner at a restaurant with no external signage in the Gion district of Kyoto. The kind of restaurant, and meal, that tourists can generally only dream of having in Japan.

Fugu via iPhone © Harold Davis

I was half way through a tasty dish of some kind of baked fish with a subtle barbecue sauce when Noriko said, “Don’t worry, they are licensed here.”

I must have looked blank, because she continued, “This is Fugu!”

I must have still looked blank, because she said, “You know, Blowfish. It’s also called ‘Pufferfish.’ The poison fish.”

Licensed to what? Licensed to kill?

“There’s no danger,” Noriko continued. “The poison is near the intestines. The only people who die are those who eat the intestines anyway, because they are greedy people and the intestines taste so good. The government licenses people who serve this fish.”

At which point she translated our conversation for the immaculately clad-in-white, smiling and bowing chefs behind the counter, who thought it was hilarious. I pantomimed doubling up and keeling over from the poison, which they thought was even funnier, then allowed as I trusted them.

I told Noriko I wished I’d known about the fish before I’d eaten it so I could have photographed the dish with my iPhone. She said, “In that case, I’ll order it prepared a different way. But after you photograph it, you must eat it, you know.”

You can see in the iPhone shot above that the slices in the second dish of Fugu are so thin they are translucent.

Thank you, Noriko!

Getting to know Kyoto

I don’t know what to make of Kyoto yet. Coming from Tokyo on the Nozomi Super Express #23 bound for Hakata, a Shinkanzen (bullet train) among Shinkanzen, it was clear that the coast of Japan is densely populated. There are no small cities in Japan.

Kyoto Canal © Harold Davis

So it should not have surprised me when the outskirts of Kyoto were fairly brutal in their urban leanings, with a train station crowded with hordes going in every direction in apparent chaos that is in fact efficiency. The decorum makes up for a bit of this, with all the uniforms so roles are apparent, and the bows to arriving and departing buses and Shinkanzen (it is a deeper bow for a Shinkanzen than for a normal train!).

All that said, when you find the old Kyoto—temples beyond count, canals, ancient alleys and streets—it more than makes up for the rest. I’m looking forward to some real exploring tomorrow!

Coming into Tokyo

We were landing at Narita, Tokyo’s biggest airport. Waking up, I groggily pulled the shade up and looked down on an almost nighttime landscape wracked with fog. There was something familiar about the way things looked below—perhaps a bit more crowded together and a bit more orderly than the scene from above when landing at an American airport, but the same idea. Simultaneously, the landscape seemed incredibly different and foreign. Disoriented from the eleven-hour flight, I wondered what Japan had in store for me.

Imperial Palace Moat © Harold Davis

Taking the airport bus into Tokyo Station in a light rain, reflected lights glistened outside. I seemed to be passing through endless, grim industrial suburbs broken by occasional gaudily-lit odd sights: a neon yin-yang symbol high up in the night, the Hotel The Baron (looks like a castle), the very decorative Hotel Hibiscus (I assume a love hotel), and the very oddly named Hotel The Bale (I don’t even want to think about what goes on in here).

Healthful Smoke © Harold Davis

Wandering Tokyo is an almost unbelievable mixture of past, present and future. It is architecture made manifest, as if Dickensian ghosts of the past and future had collided in arena comprised of one part understated elegance and one part high kitsch. And always people. Lots of them live here.

At Sensoji Temple there were vast throngs of packed people, shown in the photo inhaling smoke supposed to help with health issues (see photo above).

I was drawn to a kind of huge open closet with many marked drawers. It turned out it was a way to learn your fortune. Junya warned me that this temple was supposed to have a high ratio of bad fortunes to good ones, and maybe I should go to a temple with a reputation for better fortunes. But it was too late. I had already dropped my 100 Yen into the box. There was nothing for it but to go on.There was a way to ritually hang the bad fortunes on a nearby tree to hopefully negate the effect if worst came to worst.

Fortune’s Drawers © Harold Davis

First, I shook up a rectangular container containing things that looked like pick-up sticks. Then I pulled my pick-up stick out. It had a number, which was keyed to the numbers on the drawers. Inside the correctly numbered drawer was my fortune.

I drew No.29 Good Fortune: “Everything you worry about and trouble some affairs are almost over. If you do your best, you will be successful in this society and become well-known… Making a trip will be good.”

So, a positive omen!

Rainbow Bridge Ramp © Harold Davis

Heading for Japan

Just back from a successful and fun whirlwind trip to New York for PhotoExpo Plus, and I’m headed to Japan at the end of the week. The purpose of my visit to Japan is primarily photography, so I plan to take my time as I get to know some of the more historic and rural parts of the country.

Here’s an overview of my itinerary: I’ll be passing through Tokyo long enough to make some photos, then spending some time in Kyoto. From Kyoto I’ll move on to the old imperial capital of Nara, and then stay at a temple in Mount Koyo. Next, I’ll be hiking portions of the old Kumano kodo. Finally, I’ll visit Shikkoku Island and pay a visit to Awagami—the mill that makes the washi I like to print on. I am very excited about this adventure, and hope to be sharing images with you along the way!

Story of O © Harold Davis

There’s only one Paris

“Even in the thumbnail on my mobile phone, I recognized this photo as Paris,” commented one viewer after seeing this photo. I am intrigued by the idea of creating iconic Paris imagery, and look forward to leading a group to Paris in April. Please consider joining us for photography, fellowship…and Paris. Click here for a detailed itinerary, and here for online registration.

Islands of Paris © Harold Davis

I shot this image using my D800 and my Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 lens. It looks great printed on Moab Slickrock Silver!

Win free enrollment in my online Mastering Flower Photography course

My online course Mastering Flower Photography is going live soon! In the meantime, you can be entered in a random drawing to win a free course by clicking here and following this link.

Red red rose © Harold Davis

Harold Davis at PhotoPlus Expo in New York

I’ll be presenting my work in New York at PhotoPlus Expo on Saturday, October 26, 2013 on behalf of my sponsors Moab Paper and Zeiss Lenses. If you are going to be at PhotoPlus, please stop by and say “Hi”—I’d love to see you!

Here’s my schedule:

10AM Moab Paper by Legion (Booth #750)

11:30AM, 1:30PM and 3:30PM Carl Zeiss, Inc. (Booth #1155)

I will be giving away copies of my new book Monochromatic HDR Photography from Focal Press (Focal is located at Booth #128) during my Moab presentation. You’ll also find signed copies of my other new book, The Way of the Digital Photographer, at Peachpit Press (Booth #249).

The Road © Harold Davis

Daffadown Dillies

The daffodil is also a narcissus, and is a member of the Amaryllis family. The flower is a harbinger of spring. As a narcissus, the flower speaks to self-absorption: in classical mythology the beautiful youth Narcissus spurned the nymph Echo, who died of a broken heart. Narcissus then saw his own reflection in a pond, leaned over to possess himself, drowned—and became the flower.

Duet of Daffodils © Harold Davis

To make this image, I photographed the daffodils using a lightbox for the background. Leaning over my tripod, I did not fall into the lightbox and drown!

After shooting a bracketed sequence, I used my special post-production layering techniques to combine the sequence of photos. Finally, I added the flowers to a scanned paper background to add an archaic look—almost like an old-fashioned botanical painting—and to complete the image.

Interested in learning this set of photographic and processing techniques? There are spaces available in the February 2014 session of my weekend-long Photographing Flowers for Transparency workshop. Click here for more information and registration.