To blossom

Discovering Quienquiera

Quienquiera: my neighborhood bar. This was my hangout, my “home” away from my “home away from home”. I’d walk 30 seconds down the block, leaving the confines of my modern apartment for the streets of Tokyo’s quiet, old neighborhood of Shirokane (“white gold”), and find myself at an inconspicuous 100-year old house. Nestled inside was this little gem of a bar. It beckoned like a dark, welcoming living room. A total treasure. A place where I practiced Japanese with “my boys” and they picked up little phrases of English from me. Back and forth. They made cocktails the old school way: by hand. House-infused spirits, fruits and herbs hand-pureed with a mortar and pestle, and the ice hand-cut to perfection. Every night, I’d take my seat at the end of the counter next to what I called “the flowers of Quienquiera” and photograph my new friends, documenting memories between sips of a Side Car or “Campari a la Julie”. My drink, just for me. Over time, new friends became old friends. Quienquiera is what I miss most about Tokyo. — J.E.
Quienquiera
5-14-8 Shirokane
Minato-ku, Tokyo
tel: (03) 3446-0609

Owning it

above: Fab5 Freddy, Deborah Harry, Lee Quinones Pike // Cherry Streets (c) Bobby Grossman

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Photographing Silence

Balinese rituals // PH: John Stanmeyer // Holga camera. See more in NYT

Collecting water for the cleansing ceremony of Melasti

Stabbing himself with a dagger during Melasti

A bride stands, waiting to be introduced to her groom

Preparing for a sacred dance performance

Nothing

Nothing is more real than nothing. – Samuel Beckett

The False Mirror by Rene Magritte

Feast for the eyes

γιορτή για τα μάτια

Ancient Greek Jewelry, 300 BCE
The Hellenic Period — the birth of philosophy, drama, and sculpture.

Postcards from Kyoto II

Kyoto Summer: A Study
Part II:  Scenes

PH: J. Elliott

Snow

“Nature never shows the same face, proof that nature is always alive. Nothing can transcend the beauty of nature created by necessity and that is the result of inevitability.” -Yoshioka Tokujin

Snow
2010 Feather

Yoshioka Tokujin (b. 1967, Saga, Japan) designed a snow installation for Issey Miyake in 1997, in which the natural phenomenon of snow — which, in itself, has no distinct shape or form, and which turns into water when it melts — was utilized as a symbol to convey the concept of the color white. To represent snow, Yoshioka uses feathers, which he sees as the lightest material available today.

Snow (2010), in a 15-meter wide space, recreates the randomly falling of snow on an even greater , more dynamic scale. In this work, a fan is directed at several hundred kilograms of fine feathers so that they drift through the air and slowly accumulate on the ground. This vision is a reflection of our memories of snow and is sure to elicit a renewed appreciation of nature, the beauty of which has the potential to surpass even the imagination.

Postcards from Kyoto

Kyoto Summer: A Study
Part I: Hello

PH: J. Elliott, 2010

Chasing fireflies

Days darkening, fireflies aglow
PH: Kristian Cvecek, amateur photographer and full time physicist who spends nights in German forests waiting for fireflies to glide past. Using slow shutter speeds, he captures their delicate movements as they dash between trees and ferns – creating mesmerising patterns. (C) Barcroft Media