The Way of Tea
I'm currently working on several personal projects with the very deliberate purpose of creating some entirely new portfolios. One of these projects is to photograph people who are either involved in or are practitioners of traditional Japanese arts, crafts, or activities. For me, this includes any number of things from kendo practitioners and taiko drummers, to sushi masters and Shinto priests.
The most recent of these traditional crafts that I'm working on and have only just finished photographing is Japanese tea ceremony. Japanese tea ceremony, known as sadō (茶道), or the Way of Tea, is essentially the ritualized act of preparing and offering green tea. It may not sound like much at first blush, but it is actually something quite interesting to witness and take part in. Every movement and every action in sadō is carefully choreographed, everything from the entrance and exit of the tea master, to the selection of sweets and the mixing of the green tea powder (matcha) into carefully heated water. The amount of attention given to every last detail is truly remarkable.
While the photos from the shoot are not yet prepared to be published (and it may be some time before I put any of them out), I will share some of the casual detail shots taken during prior visits that I made to meet and talk with the tea ceremony women. I've included these photos in the post below.
