LIFE SUPPORT JAPAN I+II+III: Online Auction

Japan 015b, 2010 (10 available) $50
Photograph (c) Wyatt Gallery

Spirit Stories #19, 2010 (8 available) $50
Photograph (c)Jessica Hines

Japanese Macaques, 2010 (10 available) $50

Photograph (c) Mike Gibson

No. 61, 2011 (3 available) $50
Photograph (c) Kerry Mansfield

Rabbit, 2010 (8 available) $50
Photograph (c) Monika Merva

$1 Of Panko Bread Crumbs, 2008 (5 available) $50
from the series The Value Of A Dollar
Photograph (c) Jonathan Blaustein

life support japan I
life support japan II
life support japan III
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wall space gallery

the photo community has pulled together at warp speed to help disaster victims in Japan. powered by aline smithson of lenscratch + christa dix of wall space gallery, Life Support Japan has already raised $20,000. over 900 photographers are donating their work and images are being uploaded every day, so check back often - for $50 you will get an 8 X 10 signed print, one of a special limited edition of ten - 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the non-profit organizations, Direct Relief International and Habitat for Humanity Japan

new images posted daily
seattle 206.330.9137 | santa barbara 805.637.3898

purchase thru google check-out. international buyers: email gallery@wall-spacegallery.com for an invoice and pay thru paypal. buy multiple prints, pay shipping once. also click on "Life Support Japan I" on the bottom of the page

LIFE SUPPORT JAPAN: Photography Auction Funds Benefit Japan Disaster

SILENT AUCTION: JENNIFERSCHWARTZ Gallery
Atlanta, GA, March 19th. 11am-5pm
Absentee Bidding VIEW IMAGES

Maiko Takaku, Matsuo Kabuki (2003)
Photograph (c) Hiroshi Watanabe

Big with Monkey Doll, Suo Sarumawashi (2008)
Photograph (c) Hiroshi Watanabe

Barefoot Guitarist (2009)
Photograph (c) Gabe Sheen

Life Support Japan is an effort by photographers and galleries around the world to raise money to support those affected by the earthquake and tsunamis that struck Japan on March 11th, 2011. Money raised from these joint efforts will be donated to Direct Relief International and Habitat for Humanity Japan.

Silent Auction: Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, Atlanta, GA, March 19th. 11am-5pm. Winners Announced at 6pm on March 19th. Bids will be taken at the Gallery and also by Absentee Bidding. Absentee Bids can be sent to auction@jenniferschwartzgallery from 11am-5pm (Eastern Standard Time). They will accept absentee pre-bids Friday March 18th from 5pm-7pm. Additionally there will be a "buy it now" option, where the bidder can buy the lot at the full retail price.

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20x200: A JEN BEKMAN PROJECT
(limited editions x low prices) + the internet = art for everyone

Imperial Palace Gardens with Wall, Tokyo, 2009
Photograph (c) Emily Shur

All of the proceeds from the sale of this print benefit Japan Society's Earthquake Relief Fund. Japan Society has created a disaster relief fund to aid victims of the Tohoku earthquake in Japan. 100% of the contributions will go to organization(s) that directly help victims recover from the devastating effects of the earthquake and tsunamis that struck Japan on March 11, 2011. 20X200

"I have photographed in Japan since my first visit in 2004 . . . I identify deeply with the level of respect that nature commands there, as well as the mesmerizing attention to detail prevalent within Japanese life. This honoring of the natural world is indicative of a certain way of thinking; a collective consciousness that goes beyond simply caring for plants or animals or taking pride in one’s work." –Emily Shur

Purchase Imperial Gardens: 20X200

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LIFE SUPPORT JAPAN: WALLSPACE Gallery
Online Auction: new images posted daily
VIEW IMAGES

Hope, India, 2011 $50
Photograph (c) Manjari Sharma

January Rain, Tokyo, 2009 $50
Photograph (c) Michael Kirchoff

the photo community has pulled together asap, powered by aline smithson of lenscratch and christa dix of wall space gallery. at this time, over 850 photographers have donated their work (!) so new images are being uploaded every day - check back often - for $50 you will get an 8 X 10 signed print - one of a special limited edition of ten - 100% of the proceeds will be donated to non-profit organizations, Direct Relief International and Habitat for Humanity Japan, benefiting disaster victims.

*purchase thru google check-out. international buyers: email for an invoice and pay thru paypal. buy multiple prints, pay shipping once.

note: Life Support Japan is planned as a long term project, not a short term fix to help Japan. they are creating a website, I'll post when it's live. "thank you from the bottom of my heart for this huge outpouring of support in this effort to help."–gallery owner, christa dix

HIROSHI WATANABE: Love Point

Mariko 2
Photograph (c) Hiroshi Watanabe /All Rights Reserved

Japanese Edition "Love Point" (Tosei, 2010)

click to read
Courtesy of La Lettre de la Photographie 2.11.2011

"I took the photograph of a bar, Love Point, a few years earlier in Japan. I liked the sign and its design. I used it on the cover in order to confuse the readers. When the show opened in Japan, a newspaper article appeared saying that the show is about a real place in Japan where men play with real women and dolls. For me, the work is a kind of mind game. I hope I was able to intrigue."– Hiroshi Watanabe

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Japanese-born, California based photographer, Hiroshi Watanabe, has become an important force in photography over the past several years, with a growing list of monographs, artist's books, exhibitions and awards to his credit. He's known for his beautiful theatrical portraits of traditional Noh Masks of the Naito Clan and Kabuki Players (Hiroshi Watanabe, La Lettre de la Photographie, Jan 17, 2011)

click to read
Courtesy of La Lettre de la Photographie 1.17.2011

though here he has taken a slightly different turn, photographing artificial Japanese Sex Dolls as models, along with almost identical live models. The portraits are titled out of fictional characters in an accompanying short story by novelist Richard Curtis Hauschild and all reside in a fictional place, Love Point.

"The dolls are very expensive sex dolls (about $5,000). They are human size with real joint movements, soft skin, and weigh just like a woman. As in US and Europe, there are people in Japan who live and sleep with these dolls in lieu of wife or girlfriend. US dolls are more realistic in a way, but Japanese dolls are cuter and adorable (my opinion)."

"After I photographed the dolls, I photographed real human models dressed similarly. I wanted to puzzle and confuse what is real and what is not. Of course, one can tell the difference once he/she knows there are both. I could have made them more same and thus indistinguishable if I manipulated the images digitally, buytI kept them as they are on the film. I wanted to raise a question about perfectly (and easily) manipulated digital images that we see now everywhere."

“Love Point” was a collaboration of many. Hiroo Okawa of 4woods created the dolls which gave Watanabe's photographs their mysterious charm, along with the work of make-up artist, Kyoko Owada, stylist Hiromi Chiba, and models, Mariko Masu and Hiroko Sato. Richard Curtis Hauschild, “Bulldog”, wrote a strikingly original short story with the inspiration he received after looking at Hiroshi Watanabe's photographs. Kunihiro Takahashi of Toseisha belief in the work prompted an “I will publish it” response on the spot when shown the photographs, with book design by Satsuki Ishikawa. And more recently, Chris Pichler of Nazraeli Press, published the U.S. version, One Picture Book #66: Love Point (Nazraeli Press, 2011). – Elizabeth Avedon, La Lettre de la Photographie

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Love Point | Photographs by Hiroshi Watanabe
Exhibition: Kopeikin Gallery Feb 19 - April 1

Love Point at Photo-eye Bookstore

EMILY SHUR: Flak Photo Today

EMILY SHUR, one of my favorite contemporary photographers, returned from Japan a couple of weeks ago with a new group of photographs. And Andy Adams, one of my favorite photography colleagues, posted an early view of this work on his site Flak Photo. You can view rough scans of Emily's recent trip on her BLOG here and here, view Emily's Website and sign up for your Daily Flak Photo here

HALLOWEEN: Andrew Phelps

Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

ABOUT / PHOTOBLOG / WEBSITE

ANDREW PHELPS: Cross–Cultural

From the series "Not Niigata" 2009

Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

From the series "Not Niigata" 2009
Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

From the series "Not Niigata" 2009
Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

Austria, 2004
Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

From the series "Not Niigata" 2009
Photograph (c) Andrew Phelps/All rights reserved

When traveling in a foreign place, I tend to be fascinated with both the exotic and the mundane. The two are often one and the same, especially in a place where the gap between old and new is astronomical. In most modern societies, tradition, history, and religion have etched a deep set of rituals and codes which are being tested and expanded as cultural homogenization begins to question set systems and ideologies. My interests in Niigata, and Japan in general, lie within documenting this gap.

ANDREW PHELPS is an American photographer living in Austria. I discovered his work through his blog BUFFET. There's a great INTERVIEW with Andrew Phelps by Daniel Augschöll and Anya Jasbär in Ahorn Magazine here. Andrew Phelps WEBSITE

KIYOHARU ICHINO: Land of Red Waves

Wood-fired Ceramic Bowl
Contemporary Tanba Pottery by Kiyoharu Ichino

Wood-fired Ceramic Vase, Two Views
Contemporary Tanba Pottery by Kiyoharu Ichino

Wood-fired Ceramic Bowl
Contemporary Tanba Pottery by Kiyoharu Ichino

"Nestled in a beautiful valley along the Shitodani River among towering mountains northwest of Kyoto is the picturesque village Tachikui, the historic center of Tanba pottery. The rich ferrous soil in this area has supported generations of farmers and artisans since the early Kamakura period (1180-1230). The oldest existing noborigama (climbing kiln) in Japan is here. This serene locale is home of some of the most beautiful ceramics that have influenced aesthetic development in Japan and the western world. Tanba, Tan meaning red and Ba meaning waves, or Land of Red Waves, got its name from a red rice grown in ancient time which turned the fields into seas of red.

Because of its relative isolation, Tanba is less influenced by outside commercial trends than some other more accessible pottery towns in Japan. Old Tanba pottery had a restrained dignified appearance, exuding quiet confidence that reflected its proud heritage. This unique quality is evident in the works of contemporary Tanba ceramist Kiyoharu Ichino above.

KIYOHARU ICHINO was born in 1957 in Tachikui into a family of traditional pottery-makers. He learned all aspects of Tanba pottery since childhood. His works have been selected repeatedly by the prestigious juried Japan Crafts Association. Traditional Tanba pottery is fired unglazed at very high temperature in large wood-fueled kilns. Ichino uses both an anagama (hole kiln) and a noborigama (climbing kiln), burning almost a thousand bundles of wood over several days to bring out the unique personalities of Tanba clay, which is renowned for its rich texture and deep purplish brown colors. Many of his pieces show silvery fire-marks left by the wood fire. To show the unique clay texture, he often includes seemingly unfinished edges in his designs, exposing the rough clay body. Despite the high level of sophistication and innovation, Ichino's works maintain a strong connection with the ancient Tanba pottery tradition." (from Touching Stone Gallery)

Also View Yoshitaka Hasu Masterworks
Touching Stone Gallery, Santa Fe, NM