I moved to a rural part of Mino City, Gifu Prefecture in the summer of 2018, after living for over three decades in the city of Nagoya. Renovations on the property are coming along, and I have had some respite from work due to the Covid 19 measures, so I have been able to update my webpage, and I hope to resume a blog I attempted many years ago.
In this blog, my goals are to share some of my observations and experiences living in this new place, show some of my work as a photographer, as well as opine on photography in general.
Mino is a small city, and like most places in Japan, it has its own long and unique history. The center of the city is picturesque with preserved udatsu-style architecture. However, it is better known for its traditional craft of mino washi handmade paper. The thriving community of older paper makers, together with younger artists doing new things with the traditional craft, was one of the attractions of the place for me.
The nature here also turned out to be a surprise, with forested hills and an abundance of wildlife visible from my doors and windows. I live on a bank of the Nagara River, famous for ukai cormorant fishing in the neighboring cities of Seki and Gifu. Wild cormorants, among other aquatic wildfowl, are common year round. I noticed them almost immediately after moving here, but renovations to the house and work kept me too busy to pay much attention.
The photo above was a result of when I was on a nearby highway bridge, taking snapshots of some spot-billed ducks on the river. A a cormorant flew through the scene, and I quickly re-focused my lens to follow it upstream.
I was amazed by the delicacy of its form.
In this blog, my goals are to share some of my observations and experiences living in this new place, show some of my work as a photographer, as well as opine on photography in general.
Mino is a small city, and like most places in Japan, it has its own long and unique history. The center of the city is picturesque with preserved udatsu-style architecture. However, it is better known for its traditional craft of mino washi handmade paper. The thriving community of older paper makers, together with younger artists doing new things with the traditional craft, was one of the attractions of the place for me.
The nature here also turned out to be a surprise, with forested hills and an abundance of wildlife visible from my doors and windows. I live on a bank of the Nagara River, famous for ukai cormorant fishing in the neighboring cities of Seki and Gifu. Wild cormorants, among other aquatic wildfowl, are common year round. I noticed them almost immediately after moving here, but renovations to the house and work kept me too busy to pay much attention.
The photo above was a result of when I was on a nearby highway bridge, taking snapshots of some spot-billed ducks on the river. A a cormorant flew through the scene, and I quickly re-focused my lens to follow it upstream.
I was amazed by the delicacy of its form.