The Many Faces of Buddha

Here's an interesting photo I took back in 1993 showing a beautiful Buddha with the sun shining through his halo. What struck me, however, were the hundreds of little Buddha statues down at his feet.

It almost makes me feel less like a heathen. Almost.

This black and white photo taken with Ilford 200 film on my Minolta SE 50mm lens camera. I did use a light yellow filter... because truthfully, there was no sun that day, nor any day that I traveled outside of my hometown of Ohtawara-shi, Tochigi-ken in Japan.

I am the Ame-otoko. Depending on which kanji is used, I'm either the candy man or the rain man. I'm the rain man. Yeah, definitely the rain man, yeah. Rain Man. 

Regardless, I do love the ancient look I was able to achieve with this photo. It sort of fits the subject matter, I think.

So... where the hell was this photo taken? Oh my Buddha! I have no idea. Anyone know? I think it was northwest of Tokyo somewhere... somewhere closer towards Mt. Fuji. I think... after all, it was cloudy and raining and I never, ever saw Mt. Fuji in three years in the country. And I looked...

Okay... One month after writing this, I think I've figured out that this photo was taken in Kamakura. I think it was taken on the grounds of the Kōtoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa-ken (Kanagawa Prefecture).

Cheers,
Andrew Joseph

Statue Of An Old Man

I wanted to share with you a cool photo, mostly because I am behind the eight-ball at work and am doing homework now. Pay writing takes precedent over play writing, unfortunately.

Two photos...  the one above, which shows a small old man statue that was about 12-inches (30 centimeters) high. I believe it was taken in Kamakura, japan... about 31 kilometers west of Tokyo. I'm unsure. It was a rainy day - because when the ame otoko (rain man) (that's me!) travels, it always rains. I was with my good friend Matthew who should have known better. We were close enough to see the mythical Mt. Fuji... but the crappy weather made sure I never saw it.Snow, rain, cloud, volcanic ash, Godzilla attack... Mt. Fuji remained as elusive as a blue sky in Japan.

The photo below - is the same photo. It's the untouched version of the one above. It is black and white photograph processed as though it was color film. I wish I could take credit for the sheer awesomeness of this ancient looking photo - but no... it was because of the two sexy redheaded Japanese girls at the film department of Iseya who were to busy chatting me up to properly check off the right boxes on my film.

Hmmmm... sounds like a date, ladies.

Anyhow... which version looks better to you? Call me daft, but I like the original version, as the screwed up processing makes it look as though there was a mist caused by the rain all around - which there was - and makes it look, I don't know.. mystical. Mysticism.... I love the isms, and their off-shoots. 

Photographed by Andrew Joseph using the lost art form of camera film photography and his 50mm Minolta XG-se camera bought in the early 1980s.