Traditions: Buddhist Monk

Buddhism, while not a cultural aspect native to Japan, has a very long history in the country and very deep roots in Japan's culture. So naturally, the purveyors of Buddhism, Buddhist monks, fit well with my current and ongoing project to photograph people who are involved in or connected to the traditions of Japan.

Earlier in the year, I traveled down to the southern end of Chiba Prefecture to photograph a monk who is in charge of a small temple in that area.

We began our day of shooting in a small grove of trees that I had spotted during a previous visit to the area. It had been instantly clear to me when I first saw the location that there were interesting compositions and photos to be found within...

Personal Work, TraditionsAnthony WoodNovember 29, 2014Buddhist Monk, Temple, PortraitsComment

Traditions: Tea Ceremony

Earlier in the year, in continuing with an ongoing series of portraits focused on the traditions and crafts of Japan, I spent a day with a few women who practice the art of Japanese tea ceremony and worked with them to create various photographs. I shared a few details on this in a previous post.

With the exception of a small number of outdoor shots, I took the majority of the photos for this shoot inside of a typical, mostly bare traditional Japanese room. As it was a room that is solely used for tea ceremony, it naturally made for a perfect place to do some simple tea ceremony photographs...

Personal Work, TraditionsAnthony WoodJuly 21, 2014Tea Ceremony, Kimono, PortraitsComment

Narita Gion Matsuri

The summers in Japan are always hot, humid, and near unbearable. If it weren't for the fact that Japanese summers are also filled with traditional festivals and celebrations, I would be hard pressed to find an excuse to leave the climate controlled comfort of the indoors.

These festivals, known as matsuri (祭り) in Japan, are especially abundant in the summertime...

TravelAnthony WoodJuly 16, 2014Festival, MatsuriComment

Traditions: Kendo

In recent months, I have been putting a fair amount of my time and efforts into a personal project in which I'm photographing people involved in some of the traditional arts and cultural trades of Japan. With several of these shoots already completed, and several more in the planning stages, I'm well along my way into creating a new collection of work.

One of the more recent shoots that I've finished was for a practitioner of kendo...

Personal Work, TraditionsAnthony WoodJune 21, 2014Kendo, PortraitsComment

The Way of Tea

Currently, I'm 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...

PersonalAnthony WoodFebruary 15, 2014Tea CeremonyComment

Wandering Senso-ji

I regularly make the time for outings where I may simply go out and casually shoot as I please. It's time that I use to practice and make deliberate attempts at refining my photographic sense and further expanding my abilities. These outings are one means for me to think on my feet, play with various situations and camera settings, as well as experiment with different ideas; all things that assist me in creating and delivering better quality work when it counts.

On a recent weekend, I was out on one of these little outings...

TravelAnthony WoodJanuary 21, 2014Asakusa, Senso-ji, TempleComment

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