Is it Spring Yet?

Hello! It's Daniel, wandering around Japan with a camera. Recently, I’ve been making prints for my exhibition in May, a satellite exhibition of the Kyotographie Photography Festival.

I finally cleaned up the mess of picture frames that had overtaken my apartment. Many prints made – the shadows a little brighter, the crop a little tighter; a white mat, or a black one? Perhaps better in a smaller, more intimate size?

OKAY! I have many more pictures but no more picture frames. I don’t even know how I can display the ones I have in my available gallery space. I guess that means I’m finished?

Still, more elements to decide - and to make - before the show opens in six weeks.

But now we wait for the cherry blossoms, the Sakura. Why is it such a big deal in Japan? Elsewhere it seems that - while noted and appreciated - the blooming of spring flowers hardly brings the kind of frenzy that occurs throughout Japan. In Southern California, of course, we hardly notice such things, except maybe when the Jacaranda take over. 😀

It was warm for a while. Soon the cherry blossoms will flower and our lives will be warm again. The kuwazu-zakura already came out, is spring really here?

But then it got cold again, nighttime temperatures at the freezing point. My Tokyo friends who the week before were posting photos of blossoms, suddenly posting pictures of snow!

What? Will spring ever come? We’ll just have to be a bit more patient.

A few weeks ago, I went to Yokohama for a day at the CP+ photo expo, what is now the world‘s largest photo trade show. Lots of cameras and lenses everywhere. The big camera companies, Sony, Fuji, Nikon, Canon – had big booths with many cameras you could pick up and use. But photographers need something to shoot at, so there were numerous photographic sets, with models smiling for the cameras; arrangements of flowers to photograph, even dancers performing. There were alluring subjects for every kind of photographer.

Tripods, printers, camera, bags, magazines… But, conspicuous by its absence - was film, 35mm camera film. Fujifilm had their Instax instant cameras, but not a single box of film anywhere. And Kodak, although recently revitalized after their bankruptcy of several years ago, wasn’t even there. 

I got to try some new devices that I’ve been interested in. But on the whole, it was not super exciting. Trade shows are less important in the Internet age, I guess.

Afterwards I wandered through Yokohama’s Chinatown, full of young people out for the evening. I wandered around, taking advantage of the dusk light, finding the balance between the evening sky and the bright lights offering all kinds of Chinese foods. Eventually, I put down my camera and sampled some of the pork buns, gyoza, and Peking Duck on offer.

Trying to be on-line less and in-person more, I spent an evening of chicken wings and beer with some of my social media friends in Nagoya, about 45 mins away by Shinkansen bullet train. I often go past but rarely stop in Nagoya, the 4th largest city in Japan, in between Tokyo/Yokohama and Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe. It's the Chicago of Japan, maybe...

Not knowing much about the city, I made a day of it, visiting the Toyota museum and the Noritake pottery museum, as well as the Tokugawa-en garden. If you're ever in Nagoya, the Toyota Commemorative Museum is a must-see if you're any kind of techie. Acres of displays starting with the history of textile looms - the company started as the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works - and is still one of the world's largest manufacturers of textile looms. After the looms, there are more exhibits of automobiles and production technology, ending up with an exhibit of robot arms assembling cars as they move down the assembly line.

I’m expecting a hectic spring, with the cherry blossoms and the accompanying influx of visitors on the streets, and preparing for two photo exhibitions – Lana’s and mine – the prints might be finished, but there’s still more to do. And then we have to be present at our exhibits, for anyone who wants to visit. If you're in the neighborhood, I hope you will too!

This will be followed by a quick exit into an American summer, assuming the bombs stop falling by then…

Stay well, stay safe.
Daniel Sofer