A snap election has been ordered here in Japan after the new prime minister Kan took over a few weeks ago.  The election will take place on July, 11th 2010.  Only two weeks of campaigning are allowed.  At least that saves our ears from the endless loudspeakers that roam the neighborhoods asking us to vote for their politrickster.  Another good point is that there is a lot less money wasted on the campaigning than the pornographic amounts wasted back in the states.

The best thing for me as a photographer are the political posters.  I just love to have fun with them.  They are up all over the place and are put up on specially erected boards that each party has an assigned space.  I love to get in there with my lens and abstract, pervert the already perverted message that the politicians are trying to portray.

They have no real power.  Only the illusion of real power because “we the people” have given in to them.  The people are not ready for real change, because real change will mean heartaches.  Therefore in the meantime, as the humidity and the heat rise so does the foul stench of politics.  In return I will strive to take such ugliness and turn it into an expression.

Don’t give in to the politricksters illusions.  Go out and fight the real fight.

I have been searching out the lost and found objects for about 9 years or so.  So many object lost and so many of these object found.  All have been gently placed with the intention of them being found by their owner.  Just another two keys that have been lost.  What do they unlock?  Will they ever slide into that lock agin?  Only the most high knows.

I have been thinking about this a lot these days.  That in ancient times the first fruits of the harvest were given over to the priest of the the temple to be offered.  We have lost touch with our roots and connection to the land.  When do we plant, when do we harvest has all been lost to those that live in the metropolises of today.

I struggle to find those connections being a city dweller myself.  I maintain a simple patio garden filled with fruit and spice plants.  I have re committed myself to tending my plants more closely this year as a way to keep some connection with the biorhythms of the earth.

Keep on finding that connection.  Take care of your garden.  You are the master of the fields if you choose to be.

A slice of oddness from the wanderings on the edge of Tokyo today.

Another found image of Mt. Fuji.  I am starting to come to grips with the Japanese obsession with the dormant volcano.  A lost idol that no longer has it’s idolater.   A fraction of an image that only reveals its self in the past.

Fire, fire, fire is on my brain, and the random interconnected images that make of my stream of consciousness for the day.

The weather is back to being completely schizophrenic.  It can not make up it’s mind whether it is spring, summer or as it felt today, winter.  The skies went purple for a minute before the heavens opened up and poured.  Might need to pull out that extra blanket I put away a few weeks ago.

Things appeared in a new light as I made my way around.  There were unique little details.  Like the ghostly impression of Mt. Fuji that appeared on a no bicycle sign.  It was there today, but I had never seen it before, or was it just an illusion.

A perfectly placed staple, on a simple plain whitish paper.  Just there.  Just waiting in the quiet late spring rain.

Then there was the poster that was hung outside of a junior high school warning the youths to take action to prevent the spread of the flu and other viruses.  We all can see what someone really thought of this sign.

Little notes all imaged in Kasai and Shin Urayasu.

More to Come

The oxidized moon rose early this afternoon.  It must have been about 3 in the afternoon, when I caught a glimpse of the metal flaking into my lens.  That beautiful moon, that should only come out in those quickly shortening days of autumn, was out and about.  Quickly dropping behind the horizon line.

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.

One seed planted in rich earth is all it takes.  The roots grow into the soil, seeking out nutrients.  Raising up its hands to the shining sun.  Time will tell, and Babylon’s concrete trap will all come falling down.  Go out, plant, reap, and sow a beautiful future for all.

A new neighborhood has been granted to me to explore.  This neighborhood is outside of Tokyo and falls in Chiba prefecture.  Tsudanuma.  Its a bustling little hub between Nishi Funabashi station and the big JR station in Chiba city.  I only was able to scratch the surface today, but I know I will be back and wander the back streets of this town.  For now, this will satisfy my hunger to explore the neighborhood.  But, just.

I needed to get out of the house today so I just took a stroll around the neighborhood.  The air was icy with reports of snow later tonight.  Walking around my gray neighborhood looking for what I have a look for what I haven’t really seen before.  Snap, snap, and walk walk that is what I do best.

Some ice-tails from the snowfall from the other day.  I focused on the details, the macro, the surreal the icy and the plain cold.  I will hence forth label these and ice-tails.

On my way in to work today I noticed ice on the ground for the first time.  It was completely covering some grassy knolls outside.  I hunched down to have a closer look at the ice and was amazed that the ice crystals were as thin as hairs and look liked nothing I have ever seen before.  Ok, so those of you who know me, are probably saying, “This boy is from Miami, what does he know about ice?”  Well I know nothing, but I still were looking at these Angel Hair like Enoki Mushroom ice crystals.  I picked one bunch up in my leather gloved hands, and squished the delicate crystals.  So for me, a boy from the rock bottom, they were magical.

Look closely at all that surrounds you in this world.  There are hidden treasures in all little nooks and cracks in this crazy mixed up beautiful world.  If anyone knows what the fruit in the picture is please let me know.