Art
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Anyone set on going to Brimfield in July? Knowing that friends like Kenyan Lewis and Hitoshi from Jantiques in Tokyo regularly attend for the duration of the week makes me think that it’s worth going again. Having Kenyan as a guide at Brimfield makes it a lot easier to put the whole thing into perspective. He has the whole place mapped out in his head and keen eyes for rare unique objects. One thing that is calling me back is that the camera guy is coming back for the July shows. This guy’s got everything. Rare lenses, bodies, filters, lighting kits, Polaroids, etc. Notable items in this set of photographs here are: the fox head-piece, the wooden ghost, the bust form, the full skeleton minus lower jaw, Kenyan in action, the flood light, the Arabic stop sign, and the R L calling out to the Ralph Lauren prop people, and that 8×10 camera which was only $225 although I was told that it did not have a home in my apartment. Anyway, I hope someone got it.
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Tags: 2010. Keren Richter, 8x10 camera, Auburn, Boston, Brimfield, bykenyan, Camera, cameras, fox head-piece, Hitoshi, Jantiques, July shows, Kenyan Lewis, Massachusetts, May, Nakameguro, props, R L, Ralph Lauren, skeleton, skull, Tokyo, wooden ghost
These are images from last week’s road trip in and around Palm Springs and Yucca Valley, California through the desert. Notable spots along the route here are the Coachella Valley Preserve, the Integratron, CA-247, and the 29 Palms Highway. I didn’t think a Chevy Cobalt rental would hold up to my constant pulling over but it did. After I get back from Seoul and Tokyo, I’ll post some more selects.
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Tags: 2010, 29 Palms Highway, Ace Hotel, Americana, CA-247, California, cars, Coachella Valley Preserve, desert, gas stations, Integratron, Joshua Tree, Keren Richter, Landscapes, mailboxes, March, Mojave Desert, oranges, Palm Springs, Photography, Portraits, Roadtrip, San Bernardino County, signage, Signs, trailers, Yucca Valley
Nights in Osaka are amazing to see. Most young people hang out around Namba. A long arched promenade stretches for multiple city blocks leading up to the Osaka canal where the buildings are lit up in neon. Around Namba, food stalls are hidden away in dark alleys and arcades stay open really late. After the sun goes down, the city really lights up electric and people head out. The “cutie” photo booth to me is a phenomenon. I understand that it’s a way for people to keep memories after a night out together but the “cute” photo booths in the arcades are more like Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator. You have to go through like 30 steps of design and retouching before your photos will print. Nuts. Oh yeah, everyone stares at their cellphones constantly. Worse than here.
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Tags: 2010, Arcades, Bikes, counting cute, cute, cutie, dining, eating, James Ryang, Japan, JR, Namba, Osaka, Osaka4, photo booth, Photography, Promenade, train
Riding the subway in Japan never gets old. Its efficiency is astounding. Also, very recently, women have been given their own designated train cars to prevent sexual harassment in the trains. It’s a very Japanese solution to a problem: finite and direct. Osaka is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is a huge, frenetic city but in the quieter moments it can get very peaceful, comparatively. Even in a pachinko parlor or a JR station. This is an assortment of portraits above ground and below, inside spaces and out. This is the hospital where my grandmother had been. Seeing pictures of it now gives it some kind of new significance, I guess, our last meeting place. Also, a portrait of my dad which I’d never really done until now. This is where he grew up. Also, more things with faces on them i.e. food packaging.
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Tags: 2010, bicycles, Chuo-ku, Hong-Son Ryang, hospital, James Ryang, Japan, JR, Osaka, pachinko, Photography, Portraits, quiet moments in a hectic city, sexual harassment, subway, Tamatsukuri, train
Most of these were taken around Tamasukuri in Chūō-ku near Osaka Castle. The castle has been converted into a museum about the political history of Osaka. In 1665, it was struck by lightning and burned down and in 1868, much of the castle was burned down again during the Meiji Restoration. Tamatsukuri Station is bordered by a huge municipal park and sports facilities, including soccer fields, baseball fields, and a judo and kendo dojo. Here I got to shoot some kids flipping each other. This was my grandmother’s neighborhood close to where my dad grew up. There are bikes everywhere.
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Tags: 2010, AM-PM, bicycles, business hotel, Cats, Chuo-ku, crow, dojo, James Ryang, JR station, judo, magazines, Meiji Restoration, Osaka, Osaka Castle, park, Station, Tamatsukuri
Seogwipo is a city on the southern coast of Jeju Island. It is a bizarre place. The majority of visitors go there for the duty-free shopping and natural wonderment. There is a chocolate museum called Chocolate Land, adorned with Asian Santas and Greek sculpture. There are also naturally-occurring waterfalls, volcanic valleys, and an arched bridge which is completely bananas. There is also a music museum with a floating faucet head in front. Seogwipo is also the site of one of the 2002 World Cup stadiums which is used for film screenings and national soccer matches. This place is nuts.
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Tags: 2002, 2010, Bridge, bus station, Cheju, chocolate land, coconuts, floating faucet, greek sculpture, Island, James Ryang, Jeju, Korea, Landscape, Photography, Robert Ryang, rocks, santa clause, seogwipo, soccer, stadium, volcanic land, waterfalls, world cup
Harajuku, January 2010
So it’s been awhile since I did an entry. I left New York 18 days ago and I’ve been sleeping with my camera. I think I’m taking like a 1000 images a day. I decided to hold off on posting anything until I can get home and wrap my head around it all. And edit which is really the most important thing. It’s been rad but I’m kinda excited to head back home and get back to work and New York.
Image copyright James Ryang 2010
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Tags: 2010, grafitti, Harajuku girls, James Ryang, Photography, What
This has been a hectic trip so far. It seems like it’s mostly been travel, whether it’s a car, bus, or plane. It was almost a full day on an airplane. Just getting here has been a trip and it’s going to be mostly fulfilling family duties before any real fun starts. It also occurred to me that I’ll pretty much only be around Asians for the next three weeks which is always fun to experience again. I’m already starting to shoot some things that will be of more interest in future posts.
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Tags: 12.24.09, Airports, Christmas Eve, JAL, James Ryang, Japan Airlines, JFK, Narita, New York, photographs, Seoul, Tokyo
I just did a shoot tonight inside the World War II aircraft carrier, the USS Intrepid. But in eight years of living in New York, I never visited the museum. What a trip. But tonight was a totally different type of visit. I setup a mini-portrait studio inside the hull of the ship. Below is a portrait of my friend Thibault, who I worked with tonight, and an interior shot from inside the belly of the beast. Also, below are some amazing images from the top-level deck of the aircraft carrier shot by my friend Leonard Fong. To learn more about the Intrepid Museum, click HERE.
Top two images copyright James Ryang 2009
Bottom two images by Leonard Fong
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Tags: 2009, December, Intrepid, Intrepid Museum, James Ryang, Leonard Fong, Photography, Portraits, Remy-Cointreau, Studio, Thibault, USS Intrepid
