Wow! You have a real talent.

Great pics.

Retina, would you sell any of your prints... just for private use?

When's your gallery-party ? ... or site-launch ?
Dang , find a good close manager ... more of the world needs 2 C U .

heartbeatocean - I couldn't say since I haven't been to those countries, but compared to for example Arabia, Japan is way more inaccessible. It's an ultra-closed monoculture where people don't necessarily look down on you if you do something that doesn't fit in (like opening a can of soda right after you buy it from a vending machine) but rather get shocked....you simply cannot do such a thing! It's unheard of! And the differences in everyday behaviour are astounding; a non-response is considered a valid response, to answer "no" is extremely unusual etc.

Natisse - Thank you!

Lammastide - Thank you very much! And I'll org note you about your question.

Reincarnate - First of all, welcome back. Interesting that you went to Nagasaki almost at the same time that I went to Hiroshima...and your experiences sound similar to mine. Like you said, they have every reason to be angry but seem to have decided to work towards preventing anything like this from happening again instead of looking back. Still, these cities will always be in the shadow of their history in certain ways. Thanks for what you said about the animals. For some reason I've always been able to earn the trust of animals. Maybe they can sense that I would never try to hurt them and that I respect the boundaries of their territory.

onenightalone - Thank you!

100MPH - Wow, those are very nice compliments. I would love to get some of my pictures out there, but I lack the knowledge of how to achieve that. So far I have always been turned down by picture agencies etc. After having read all the heart-warming comments on this thread, I might give it another shot though.

retina said:

Hey you're welcome Retina
I'm not an expert but i think that when you're going to find a good and devoted agency or representative it might work to present your work with a specific style .
You have a great variety of subjects and i don't know how you've presented yourself to those agencies in the past , but one focussed direction out of your various work could help .
Personally i think your sepia-colored visions are very strong ... a further series in that direction could be interesting .
The raw camera-filtering which you used with the waiter on the bottom is a strong graphic element too and will look awesome when you blow up the proportion for a gallery-series.




The A-Bomb Dome, Hiroshima's last remaining building from the great crime of 1945. Still today, there are some people who believe the bombing was "justified" or "worthwhile". Such human beings make me physically sick.







A shopkeeper on Miyajima Island outside Hiroshima.







"Oh wonderful ground! I'm never getting up in a tree again!"






Also your experimental work , especially the reversed ones , could make a great series . It's a style which i personally haven't seen around that much .















Kyoto by night....reversed.







Might just look blurry to some, but kind of looks and feels like a painting to me.







Rust wannabe.







A waiter on the loose, shot from the 8th floor in Nagoya.




Once again , good luck , your work deserves a place in the artworld .
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[Edited 9/3/06 10:52am]

100MPH said:

I think you're right. People are always looking to pigeonhole each other both professionally and privately. It makes them confused if you defy categorization to a certain extent. Usually when I've presented my work I've had three or four sections to show an overall diversity, but also consistency within each section. I might have to narrow it down even more though.



My thoughts exactly! The roughness of it can be used to its advantage. I always envisioned it as being really big. Cool that you seem to see the same thing there.



Thanks!!! Far from all pictures benefit from being reversed, but a precious few do, and I've collected a whole bunch over the last few years. It's a method that interests me.



Thank you very much. Your comments mean a lot!

Wow! these are beautiful retina!, i like the reverse experimental photo. the pics that stand out for me are photos 2,4,8, and the very last one. for some #4 i like because it has a elegant quality to it. the woman and her style (she looks bored lol) is totaly different from the store (sorta 'breakfast at tiffany's' in japan ) but it all fits together well. the a-bomb building photo is stunning, i like how you shot it off center like that show most of the sky. the very last one is nice too. i like the texture of it. the perspective of the shot makes it looks as if he's being spied on or something. retina these are really nice and well done

retina said:

It sounds challenging. Places like Cairo and Calcutta are kind like New York City, in the sense that they have that "anything goes" feeling.

Have you heard of Lafcadio Hearn? He was an American writer who dove headlong into Japanese culture in the late 1800's, married and stayed there until he died. He translated Japanese folktales into English.

Love these two , your pics are always amazing.