Photo Exhibition

Last week the art teacher at my school asked me to submit some artwork for a local exhibition of art teachers' work, which was flattering to say the least. I selected three photos and mounted them in frames, and on Saturday went along to the venue (in the thick snow) to check out the rest of the exhibits. It was smaller than I'd previously thought, but packed with some varied and interesting works from local teachers. I was proud to be a part of it.

Photo's 1 and 2 I mounted in the same frame and called it "Country of contrast." Photo 1 is from the 2010 Nozawaonsen fire festival. Rural Japan is, certainly where I live, very quiet and peaceful, and I was struck at the time by how "violent" the festival entertain was. Looking back at my photos I was reminded of the show and shortlisted the photo from a few others. Photo 2 is from a tea ceremony I went to in Autumn 2009. The sakura in the bottom of the tea cup looked so peaceful and serene, and when combined with the fire festival photo seemed to conjure up a contrasting snapshot of Japanese culture.

"Country of contrast."


Photo 1


Photo 2

Photo 3 is ok a tree that stands next to the swimming pool at my Junior High. I walk past it every day from the carpark to the school building and every day I take a good long look at it. Subsequently I have been taking shots of it in all types of weather and of course the four seasons; I expect I'll be making a photo composition of them sometime this year. This particular shot is from September 2010 I think.

I called it "A safe place."


Photo 3


At the exhibition

Takato sakura

Today we headed north to Takato in the Ina valley to see the lovely sakura in the grounds of a castle there. To say it was a sight to see is an understatement. It was absolutely gorgeous. There were pink and white blossoms as far as you could see, and judging by the whirlwinds of falling blossoms, a few days later and we'd have missed it all! Apparently the blossoms at Takato are some of the nicest in Japan. It was certainly busy with people!

New school year & sakura arrives

So after a somewhat uneventful spring break we are finally back to school. On Tuesday we welcomed in the new first graders in a graduation-style ceremony. It was nice to recognise quite a few faces from my elementary schools, and of course, they all recognised me, and as such I am currently hearing my name called in the corridors several dozen times a day. I like it.

On top of that the sakura (cherry blossoms) have arrived. Yay! There is a fantastic and long line of them between my junior high and elementary schools, and they are also running rampant in my part of the village too.