The sun was out and about yesterday while we strolled around Harajuku.  The light was intense which makes for some rich tones.  A few black and whites from that stroll.  More to come from another stroll about to begin in a few hours.

The day was lovely if not a bit on the windy side today.  We hopped on the train to go into Harajuku today.  We had planned to eat lunch at a new breakfast joint imported in from Oahu, but were dismayed to see the line literally go around the block.  Being in a state of dizziness due to eating early this morning we trodded on looking for a spot to eat.

We ended up in a sandwich place.  Which was okay, but the thing we discovered after sitting down was that the restaurant was in partnership with a cigarette company, so we were surrounded by adds trying to get the ladies to smoke.  I thinketh we will never go back there again.

Strolling around the little busy backstreets of Harajuku was enjoyable, I found YOU there, just sitting in a window front.  That was a nice touch, since it is always a pleasure to see you.

There also is this constant battle between the graffiti writers and the buffers.  In the end the  buffers can never win.  Art will always prevail.  The pattern the buffers left behind was so beautiful, with a faint hint of the original graff, it made my warm heart grow even warmer.

So get out there into the world.  See what there is to be seen.  Do not let them hold you back, flip the script and create art out of the seemingly artless.

The rain came all day.  It lest a haze that was hung around after the rain vanished.  All the lights are aglow outside, flaking of the shiny pavements and sidings.  SNAP, Snap, snap.

There is a place on the other side of the Fifth Dimension, where umbrellas fall from the skies.  Rain bounces across the heavens, and puddles are the links between the two.  However, for me, in the meantime, I will continue to wander the streets of Tokyo, and look for those hidden leaks.

These political posters of Japan just won’t leave me alone.  Anywhere I go I cannot escape them.  The cold two dimensional eyes stare into my three dimensional eyes. Our eye lines meet, but the event is only recorded in my mind, and then on my pixels.  I want to move in close.  I want to flip the script of what they are trying to convey.  Subvert their message.  Turn propaganda into an artist expression.

This is why the posters won’t leave me alone.  They are telling me that there is still work to be done.

So, lets get it DONE.

The day started off lovely enough.  The sun was high overhead and the warmth filtered though my skin and into my bones.  On by daily stroll to and from the station, I paused to take stock the rest i had been blessed with over the weekend.  I felt energized, and all lit up around me.  I looked closely, real close to see what was in store for my lens today.  Macro, the minute detail, enlarged to be observed by the viewer.

The one powerful seed that was begun the process of breaking down the wall.  Making Babylon crumble to the ground.  It is just a weed.  Something others will just uproot.  I just want to see it grow and prosper.

Enlarge it up so that you can see the inter connections of the world.

Walking thought the little streets of Narashino I came across the Takimoto Watch Shop.  An establishment that looks as if it has been there for eternity.  A thick layer of age covered everything on in and out of the store.  A beautiful testament to the glory design of the Showa Era.

I have been meaning to post this for a while.  I am so thankful for the people over at FABRICA and across the world who participated in the COLORS NOTEBOOK project.  I like others got their blank template in my post box, and thought about what to put in this notebook of anything I wanted to be, and then sent it off.

A good few months later, I find out that it had been selected to be shown in some of the FARBICA exhibitions of the Notebook Project.  Including Shanghai, Tokyo, Europe. Later I was contacted by Carlos, over at Fabrica that they were using my images from the magazine in a collection of the book FACES.  I was one of the many artist to be selected in the publication.

A special shout out to to Carlos and Isotta at Fabrica for opening a beautiful relationship.  For my brother Frederic in Paris for helping get the french right.  And my brother Brimstone127 for providing one of the inspirational portraits and pieces in the my colors notebook.  A beautiful blog that was created with notebookers from all over the By the Rest of the WORLD.

the text in French and English is below the images.

the can be ordered here Colors Notebook Faces

Jacob Schere, 1971, artist and photographer, Japan

I would shrivel up and die as a human being if I didn’t allow myself a creative outlet. I am never without art least one camera. If I forget a camera, I’m like, “oh shit, I am butt-ass naked!”

Treat others with respect, question those that have authority. Use our god-given ability to reason to seek out the light in the midst of the darkness. As an Expressionista, I know there is evil in the world. We are surrounded daily byy this imagery. I want to create work of Expression that shows the positive side, too.

My grandmother passed away in 2000, and in the Jewish tradition one year later there is the unveiling of the gravestone. This happened just three weeks after September 11. I debated with my wife whether we should travel to the unveiling. It was in New York City. Eventually we chose to travel and to be with my family. Wandering the streets with camera in hand, I was overcome. I couldn’t control myself. I just took, picture after picture. On a warm day my wife and I ventured down to Ground Zero. You have to remember this is only a couple weeks later – the ground was still smoking, everything was closed. Again, I couldn’t control myself. I shot endlessly.

There wasn’t time to take it in. Just capture in now. Be in the moment of getting the images, When I went back to Tokyo and started to edit my pictures I let the images seep into my soul, and I realized that I had after so many years found my voice as an artist.

Je me recroquevillerais et je mourrais si je ne m’autorisais pas un exutoire créatif. Je ne sors jamais sans mon appareil photo. Si je l’oublie, je me sens tout nu. Traitez les autres avec respect, remettez en cause ceux qui détiennent le pouvoir. Utilisez la capacité à réfléchir que Dieu vous donne pour chercher la lumière en pleine obscurité. En tant qu’expressionniste, je sais que le Diable vit sur Terre. Nous sommes entourés quotidiennement par des images le représentant. Je veux créer des oeuvres expressionnistes qui montrent ce que le monde a de positif.

Ma grand-mère est morte en 2000, et dans la tradition juive, l’année suivante, on inaugure la Pierre tombale. Cela s’est passé juste après le 11 septembre. Ma femme et moi avons discute pour savoir s’il était sage de se rende a l’inauguration qui avait lieu a New York. Nous avons finalement décidé d’y aller et d’être aux cotés de ma famille. Tandis que je me promenais dans les rues, mon appareil photo a la main, j’étais bouleversé. Je ne pouvais me contrôler, je prenais photo après photo. Une journée ensoleillée, ma femme et moi nous nous sommes rendus a Ground Zéro. Ce n’était pas fermé, le sol fumait encore. Encore une fois, j’avais du mal a me contrôler, je n’arrêtais pas de pendre des photos, je n’avais pas de temps a perdre, il fallait que je capture tous ces moments. Quand je suis rentré à Tokyo et que j’ai trié mes photos, j’ai laissé ces images infiltrer lentement man âme. C’est a ce moment-la que j’ai ai réalisé que j’ avais finalement, après toutes ces années d’errance, trouver ma voie en tant qu’artiste. Mon travail et mes photos sont le but de ma vie. ce n’est pas temps ce que j’ai envie de faire mais ce que je dois faire.

Sleep, we all need it.  When we don’t get enough it can catch up to you with a vengeance.  A few snaps of that sleep catching up with you.  The one salaryman was out cold.  I don’t think I have ever seen anyone so sound asleep on the train.  Everyone steeping onto the train paused and stared for a moment, I suppose to make sure he was still breathing, and thankfully he was.

Trains.  Transportation of the physical, will set your mental free.

That is all she wrote for the gentleman above.  Lights out!  Good night!!

You all must be tired of reading me bitch about the weather.  But seriously, I have had enough.  The rain is cold and I still need to use heaters in the house.  Being able to take my time to wander the streets it is just too bloody cold to do it.

Between the dense misty rain today, I was able to snap off a few clicks.  Wishing that the cold rain won’t seep into my lens.  I have to be careful pulling out my little Ricoh to keep it safe and dry.

Just some images of the rain, and cold.  Umbrellas seem to be a theme because there is nowhere I can go to escape them.

Pop, POP pop.

Drizzling, icy rain

The weather headed back into the chills today.  The mercury dropped again, the wind and the rain returned with a vengeance.  Now sitting cozily in my room, sorting though some pics, I came across a few little images to bring joy into my life, while I await this spring that is suppose to be here.

The other day while strolling back to Ichikawa station a came across a truly odd site.  I saw a totally dead bouquet that had a fish head in it.  It was tied to the outside of someone’s house.  I clearly have absolutely no idea what this is suppose to mean if anything.  It was quite a surreal moment on a normal rainy day.

I also made a return to the recurring theme os abstracted images that have been created from the political posters in Japan.  They are intriguing to me, and well, I just couldn’t help myself.

Well, the rain has returned. I am not going to complain, because at least this week the rain is not icy cold and on the verge of becoming sleet.  The streets are slick and all the brollies are held over the heads of those who remembered to bring one. If you did not, thats ok, because all you have to do is pop into a conbini (Aconvenience store) and buy a vinyl one for 500 yen.

Walking in the rain, with a umbrella in one hand and my camera in the other.

Rain, raining, rained.

A litte bit lost, a little bit running into the wall, that is a typical Monday for most.  This poor super hero got a HUGE heart, but he is lost and waiting for his familiar sidekick to return.  A key, to what, for whom?  Only the owner would know.  Some authentic fake urban nature.

Got to love Mondays, or do we?

After getting some absolutely rare spring snow in Tokyo, I took my cycle over the bridge to Urayasu.  The skies had cleared.  There were a few patches of snow on the ground.  Still the mercury was a bit low and my jacket was zipped all the way up.  Just some slices.  Random, or not.  Just some clicks to enjoy the lovely sabbath.