I started off my day with a special yoga class in the beautiful settings of a garden of Kiyosumi-Tien.  Feeling refreshed and anxious to roam the backstreets of the neighborhood, I headed off towards Monzen Nakacho Station.  Stopping along the way to snap what ever hit my fancy.

I came across these kings as i wandered the back streets of Roppongi.

They held court for any who would trespass into their kingdom.

ALL HAIL THE FOUR KINGS of ROPPONGI ! ! !

Yesterday the skies darkened, and spring vanished .  The rain came down continuously from the heavens. Never letting up.  Never slowing down.  As the thermometers plunged, I braced myself for a bit of a stroll in the rain.

Rainy, Wet and Cold.

A series of 3 new found abstractions, sourced from posters and signs.

Came across this lost key that the little drummer boy had found.

They were all taking it easy on a side street in Ichikawa.  

If its yours please come by and claim it.

I have been fortunate to have another portfolio published by the trend setting publication Axe Libre in Paris, France.  Please take a minute to browse their site and their portfolio section.

My portfolio can be viewed here.  Go to the right hand side and click on the Jacob Schere Portfolio.

an introduction to the images is below.

On the walls of Japan I have for years come across political posters from the Communists, Socialists, Democrats, and Religious Parties. All of them taped, or neatly pasted to the walls of homes, in neighborhoods though out the country. I found myself starting at these posters. Looking, deeply into them, seeing the dots, blots that build the image. We need to deconstruct and turn these political persuasions, into socially conscious works of art.

Affiches politiques et signes au Japon…

Apposées furtivement au ruban adhésif, ou collés méthodiquement le long des murs des maisons, dans le voisinage comme à l’extérieur, les affiches politiques fleurissent depuis des années le long des murs Japonais. 
Communistes, Socialistes, Démocrates ou autres parties religieux, depuis des années, je les observe, les scrute, me plonge profondément en elles jusqu’à n’y voire plus que des points, taches formant une nouvelle image. Je déconstruis pour transformer ces dogmes politiques, pour en faire un travail artistique, socialement conscients.

To view all the images in the Axe Libre portfolio please click here.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project Used my Monoprint 02 for the cover art work for their project. The design was done by John Kramer and Robb Ogle.  The music is very hiply sophisticated.  Check out their website www.bmopsound.org   

The Original Image, Monoprint 02, 2009

This little impromptu session after LaGuardia on the mic, and Brimstone on the 1’s and 2’s rocked the house in the Design district in Down Town Miami.  Out into the rare dry cool night we stumbled into this homey that straight up preforming for us, stripping off his shirt and wanting to be captured in pixels.

It was one of those only in miami happenings.

Backstreets . . .

Alleyways . . .

Side Streets . . .

Is where I feel comfortable.

my trusty GRII in hand.  Looking closely on my way.

Shapes, history, ebb and flow from my surroundings into my lens.

This little kitty paw shaped key was lonely.

Waiting passively for the owner to return.

Whose key is it?  Will it ever be reunited with

its owner.

In Ichikawa, Chiba the other day, I stood on a bridge overlooking a small river moving though the town.  I watched the petals drift down the river, thinking to myself, see you in 2010.

Walking back to the station in Ichikawa, Chiba, my heart dropped down around my ankles today.  The Oaba Photo Studio is No More.  It was there a few months ago.  Yes, it was decaying, and empty, a hollow shell of what it most have been.  

The papers that lay in its window were faded from years of exposure.  But that is all gone now.  At this time huge canvas sheets protect the road from the debris from its destruction.  Several bright orange cones keep the viewers back.

Sigh, so yes, the Obara Photographic Studio will be missed.  Another piece of analog history dies.

The Oaba Photographic Studio, 2008

Taken with the Fujipet 120 camera

The Oaba Photographic Studio Is No More, 2009

Wandering the backstreets of the Roppongi district in Tokyo yesterday, I came across a little alley with a withering flower.  It must have been gorgeous just a few hour, days ago.  Look closely, what do you see.  Roppongi is undergowing a makeover of an epic scale.

the side streets.

the quiet street.

away from the urban swamp that is tokyo

beauty, imagination, time racing to stand still.

The little Cherry Blossoms keep on falling.  

The little ones keep on splashing some color into the

concrete jungle that is Tokyo.

It is that time of year, as the days start to grow warmer, the days start to get a bit longer and all the cherry blossoms come out to play.  If you don’t live in Japan, you can’t imagine what a big event going out and appreciating the cherry blossoms.  People hang out on top of blue plastic sheets in parks up and down, all over Japan.  Drinking to excess and just flat out having a good time.  This is the first batch of images taken with the Ricoh GRII.  As usual there will be more 2 come.

Last but not least.

For there are more to come