I’ve always been a photographer. I didn’t know that when I was younger, but looking back in retrospect it’s pretty to clear to me now. As a kid I took a lot of photos with my mom’s 110 camera, and was pretty fascinated by my dad’s Canon SLR (which he later sold). By the time I was a teenager, I…
I don’t know when I first heard of a Holga, but I have a feeling it was probably ten years ago when I was doing a darkroom course in Toronto, although I didn’t buy one until a year or two later, when I was living in France. I used Michelle Bates’ Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity as my Holga guide, following…
The not-so-gentle rocking of the train curved along the single track, following the S-shaped route of the river parallel to it. As I rocked back in forth in my seat, the train ride towards Matsue was a gentle reminder that I was leaving city life behind me. I could barely make out the low, rolling mountains on either side of…
You live in Kyoto? How wonderful. You’re so lucky. I’ve always wanted to live in a city like Kyoto… Me too. It’s a strange experience, living in a place that is very well worn on the tourist trail. I’ve visited (and loved) New York, London, Paris, and have lived in some moderately well-known cities too (Hiroshima, Toronto). Once I started…
I was always a pink kind of girl. Pink shirts, pink socks, pink barrettes…even the decor of my bedroom was pink. I was a pink kind of girl even though I was a bit of a tomboy too. For a while, in my teens and early twenties I traded in the pinks for darker, plainer colours, but over time I…
Keage Station. It’s quiet, empty. I am the only person to have gotten off the train. The subway tracks are located deep beneath the ground and it’s just me and the silent hum of the escalators as they carry me upwards past pictures of the stars of the local zoo. I emerge into the dark, slick streets in front of…
Forget a white Christmas. How about a white New Year’s? New Year’s Day started beautifully, with a crystal blue sky and nary a cloud in sight. By noon, however, the clouds had rolled in and the first few snowflakes began drifting down. By the time I finished lunch there was almost two inches of sticky wet snow clinging to everything.…
So you want to buy film in Japan. Well, the obvious choice would be Yodobashi Camera. The flagship store in Shinjuku is a mecca for photographers everywhere, but especially if you are a film user, you will love the film and darkroom floors (both in separate buildings). There are Yodobashi Cameras in most major Japanese cities and I think all…
Every now and again people post links to articles about how film is the new cool. How young people enjoy it’s “I don’t know what I’m going to get” factor, shooting expired colour film or overpriced lomo film in their lomo cameras, or spending (equally) too much money on the Impossible Project’s Polaroid film (a worthy cause to be sure)*.…
Falling Off the Map 