A Few Desktop Backgrounds from the Delightfully Whimsical Otaginenbutsuji Temple in Northwestern Kyoto

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 720 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Waiting, Waiting, Fervently Waiting

for world peace that never comes
at the Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺)

Kyoto Japan

Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800

The New York Times Travel section recently published the article “36
Hours in Kyoto, Japan” (thanks Ed Pouso for the link), and one of the locations the author visited is the delightful
Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) in the northern Arashiyama area of Kyoto.

I thought it was a missed opportunity that the article didn't include a
photo from the temple, which reminded me that although I've visited the
temple twice, in both the spring and fall of 2012, I'd not yet gotten
around to posting anything. My own missed opportunity, of which my photo
catalog holds so many. Sigh. So until I can do a full-on post, here are a few
desktop backgrounds of some of the 1,200 statues — ranging from
whimsical and silly to serious and pious — that dot and fill the
mountainside location.

(The author of the NYT article writes the name of the temple
as “Otagi Nenbutsu-ji”, but in this post I write it the way the
temple itself writes it: “Otaginenbutsuji Temple”. In any case, the actual
name is “愛宕念仏寺”.)

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 450 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Private Meditation
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800









Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Nodding Off
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800









Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Friendship, Love, and Hope
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/160 sec, f/1.4, ISO 560 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Deep

this has an intensity I'm unable to put into words
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800








Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Among Friends
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800

To be clear, the captions are the feelings that I ascribe to the statue
as I look at them today while writing this post. I don't know what the
original sculptors intended to convey, but I suspect the point of the
collection is to let each piece evoke in the viewer whatever it evokes.
Along those lines, perhaps I should not put any caption at all.... (?)

To be continued...