Photography Day is June 1, in Japan

Photography Day is June 1, in Japan

June 1 is Photography day, here in Japan.

On June 1, 1841, the first photo was shot in Japan. And this is the reason why June 1 is Photography day in Japan. The funny thing is, after the through research, it was discovered that the date was wrong(lol).

International Photography day is August 19.

There is Pinhole Photography Day as well.

So, to celebrate the day, I’ve listed my favorite photographers.

 Everybody’s seen his work but doesn’t know his name. Robert Doisneau is the one who took the famous kiss photo. Love the contrast and rough feel of his work.

 Henri Cartier Bresson is probably the most influential photographer of 20th century. His main work was snaps and portraits. I just love his contrast between light and shadow. So beautiful.
The famous Magnum Photo was established by him along with Robert Capa.

 Robert Capa is, was, a war photographer. He captured lots of amazing moments in the combat zone. I cannot think of myself in his shoes. Imagine taking a photo of a soldier whose head is just about shot in an execution….

I’ve just realised all these photographers are so old.
More up-to-date photographers…. Somehow, they are all women. I wonder why…

 Sarah Moon used to be a model and did a lot of fashion photography.
Her almost impressionistic photos are with solitude and memory though at the same time death or decadent feel hidden somewhere. I love those! She directed a film, “Mississippi One” around 1992.

 What can I say about Cindy Sherman… Her work is mainly self portrait with a cinematic theme thrown in. Though scary, I love her work.

 Annie Leibovitz is great with famous people. I love her earlier work because they look spontaneous. I saw her recent photo shoot on TV and was amazed how big the whole production was. Things change as they got famous, I guess.

Other photographers…, I like Bruce Weber. His documentary film, “Let’s Get Lost” was great with late Chet Baker in it. The portrait of Marylin Monroe by Richard Avedon was so beautiful. Oh, there’s Helmut Newton too.

Anyway, no matter how many photographers I like, there is only two who really had great impacts on me.

Shinepei Asai
He’s a father of someone I know from school. I’ve seen him a couple of times though I couldn’t go and talk to him. I was just a bit too shy for that.
When I was a kid, postcards with his photos were included in a box of fudge. I can’t remember why I used to love his work but I kept on buying these fudge to get those postcards. I was taking photos then and when I was shooting a still life, I was copying him like hell!!

Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders I was much older when I first saw Wenders’ work. His work is so lonely and I guess that’s why I was drawn to his work.
I love his films but his photos are almost as good.

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

Wenders is said to be influenced by Edward Hopper. You can see the influence on his book cover. The painting is “Nighthawks” by Hopper.

I just can’t remember where all those postcards from fudge went to….

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