Nikka Whisky Distillery with Fuji X20

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Adventures in Photography

This past winter I had the privilege of visiting the Nikka Distillery in Hokkaido Japan. It’s amazing how something so traditionally Scottish such as whisky making can seem so indigenous to Japan. I guess it’s the Japanese respect and love for craft that makes something foreign their own. The founder, Masataka Taketsuru studied chemistry at the University of Glasgow in 1918. While in Scotland he married his wife “Rita” and moved back with her to Japan in 1920.

After working initially for Suntory he eventually started his own whisky distillery Nikka which is now owned by Asahi Breweries. There’s an amazing amount of things to see at the distillery including a free tasting of three products: Taketsuru 10, 17 and Nikka Apple Wine – all very good especially when had with beef jerky. It was the first time for me to visit a whisky distillery in winter. Be sure to click on the panorama photo to see the full winter vista from the tasting room. Both Hokkaido and parts of Scotland gets up to 2 meters of snow.

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Spiral

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Black and White Film Review: BRF400 Plus

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Adventures in Photography

Thought I’d give something other than Tri-X a try so here’s three shots from my roll of BRF400 Plus. Not sure whether it’s due to accidentally putting the fixer in before the stopper, but the photos have an amazing range of textures. From silky smooth to concrete grit BRF’s got it in spades. Will definitely pick up another roll and develop it properly next time to see if the texture is still there.

“Iris Garden” Stories by John Cage and Photos by William Gedney published by Little Brown Mushroom

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Adventures in Photography

“Iris Garden” brings together the work of three artists: John Cage, William Gedney and Alec Soth. This photobook is a visual enigma that contains stories within stories. Every reading reveals something new and unexpected.

The leaves of the book are not bound together and are seemingly disordered, but there definitely is a pattern at work. The book cover serves as an envelope / folder that holds everything together. Tucked inside the front cover is a William Gedney photo of a house with white picket fence. This is followed by a single sheet of white legal size card (240mm x 340mm) folded horizontally. On the “cover” of this card is the first story by John Cage:

ONE SUNDAY MORNING, MOTHER SAID TO DAD, “LET’S GO TO CHURCH.” DAD SAID, “O.K.” WHEN THEY DROVE UP IN FRONT, DAD SHOWED NO SIGN OF GETTING OUT OF THE CAR. MOTHER SAID, “AREN’T YOU COMING IN?” DAD SAID, “NO, I’LL WAIT FOR YOU HERE.”

Unfolding this card reveals a photo of a reposing man’s leg jutting out the window of a Volkswagen Beetle. On the back of this photo is another story:

When I told David Tudor that his talk on music was nothing but a series of stories, he said, “Don’t fail to put in some benedictions.” I said, “What in heaven’s name do you mean by benedictions?” “Blessings,” he said. “What blessings?” I said, “God bless you everyone?” “Yes,” he said, “Like they say in the sutras: ‘This is not idle talk, but the highest of truths’.”

We then encounter the first mini book held together by off white card stock. On its cover is a photo of a bunch of apples / potatoes on a board sitting on a wooden chair. Inside are stories and photos on three more pieces of folded white card stock.

“Iris Garden” is packed with information that is seemingly unrelated and dishevelled. And yet the artistic sensibilities of Cage, Gedney and Soth find concordance. The stories and photos are about families, neighbourhoods both near and far, and personal spaces. Through the works of Cage and Gedney, Soth is able to articulately reflect on the role of the artist in the modern world. To find inspiration one needs to be fearless and not be afraid of being bored.

The entire sequence of items in “Iris Garden” is as follows:

Folded full bleed photo tucked into front cover
Folded white card with story on cover, photo inside and story on the back
Off white coloured mini book with three folded white cards inside. All printed with photos and stories
Folded white card with stories and photos on inside and covers
Folded off white card with story on cover, photo inside and story on the back
Folded white card with photos on inside and covers
Off white coloured mini book with three folded white cards inside. Printed with photos and a story
Folded white card with photos inside and on covers
Folded full bleed photo tucked into the back cover
Single card with book details also tucked inside the back cover

“The PIGS” by Carlos Spottorno published by Phree and Editorial RM, Madrid

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Adventures in Photography

Finally decided to take the cellophane off my pristine copy of PIGS the other day. The photos show life among the economic ruins of four southern European countries. These are not the images of youth protesting on streets but rather of abandoned construction sites and idyllic seaside rubbish heaps. Luckily, the photos included are not the hit you over the head kind of destitution. The scenes portrayed could be from the wrong side of the tracks of any modern city. Except the scale is much more vast and the poverty seemingly more pervasive.

I especially like the photo of the field of worn out tires in the foreground and what looks like abandoned housing blocks in the background. The shot of the stray cow wondering the city streets is also quite effective. The design of the photobook is obviously evocative of a certain periodical with it’s iconic cover, obligatory introductory article and satirical cartoon. The author definitely wants to bring our attention to how the media is used to help sell concepts like PIGS / BRICS / etc to the public. Don’t you just love the back cover?

“Top Secret: Images from the Stasi Archives” by Simon Menner published by Hatje Cantz

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Adventures in Photography

The funniest things in the world are simultaneously the saddest and truest things. The intent of this comedy is not to belittle the circumstances but to make them bearable. Simon Menner acknowledges the ironic re-intrution of privacy by publishing surveillance images. “The presentation of most of the pictures reproduced here is naturally a two edged sword” he writes in the introduction.

The design of the book is surprisingly light hearted and has a tongue-in-cheek feel. At times it reads like an instruction manual rather than a photobook. It strikes a balance between being matter of fact, shocking, funny and frightening. This is especially the case when you realise that a lot of these type of images can now be seen on peoples’ instagram or facebook feeds. We don’t need people to spy on us anymore we have machines and ourselves to do that.

Disguises

Hand signals with lost meaning

Polaroids prior to house searches

“Rasen Kaigan” by Lieko Shiga published by AKAAKA Art Publishing

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Adventures in Photography

“Rasen Kaigan” was included in many best of 2013 photobooks lists and rightly so – it is a stunning book. The photos taken are of the Kitakama region of Japan which was worst hit by the 2011 tsunami. Leiko Shiga is the resident photographer for the area and also recorder of its oral history.

The first few images of the book set the tone of other worldliness. High contrast shot of an extraterrestrial rock and martian sunset or dawn. You’re unsure as to whether you are on a different planet or some parallel universe. The landscape is familiar but altered in some way like the photographs themselves. An alien fish eye stares at you as you move through the images.

You pick up clues along the way that it has something to do with the passing of time. Images of tree rings are juxtaposed with images of youth and age. The flow is interrupted two thirds of the way through by a double black page spread. We are back at the beginning with images of an excavation site, antique photographs and another series of high contrast rocks. The eye of an old woman stares at you.

Filme Home

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Adventures in Photography

Finally paid a visit to Filme Home in Causeway Bay. It’s a sure fire way to reignite that old passion for film photography. They are having a four roll promotion with film case so I picked a few I hadn’t tried before. Will post the results here after I shoot and develop them.

Fuji X20 & iPhone 5 + Depeche Mode Concert Photography (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Adventures in Photography

Unless I had a tripod, I couldn’t imagine using anything other than the iPhone to record concert video. The audio quality is surprisingly good but the image does get a little shaky after shooting a few songs.

Fuji X20 & iPhone 5 + Depeche Mode Concert Photography (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Adventures in Photography

I was a little apprehensive at first to use the Fuji X20 to capture the concert but lugging around the Canon 5D MKII just did not appeal to me. The X20 was small enough so that I could forget about it yet powerful enough to capture some good images at a distance.

After fine tuning the shutter speed I was able to freeze motion quite well. Although not as capable as the 5D MKII for high ISO, the X20 did handle noise exceedingly well. The optical zoom was just enough to cover most of the stage action. You can see my actual distance from the stage in the last photo of the series taken with the iPhone.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Fuji X20 performed in a concert environment. However, for video the iPhone was definitely the go to tool. But more about that in the next post.