m e g a p e r l s

Vespa driver, on a beautifully restored machine, Ebisu
I used to own a Vespa while living in London, and while it wasn’t as beautiful as this one, it was still great and I was part of the family. I often wish I still had it, I had to leave it behind when moving to Japan. But transport in London was terrible and expensive, and the scooter was the perfect solution. In Tokyo it just seems unnecessary. You can get a modern 200cc PX for around Â¥200.000, which is a very good price. Of course you cannot compare it to the prices of Japanese scooters.

I am torn whether this one looks better in colour or black & white. But it is very hard to judge something like this while seeing the two options next to each other.

Update: I have tweaked the colour cast and general saturation a little bit.

Four female spectators standing on a bench watching a Noh performance in Ebisu Garden Place last Saturday.

A tall, well-groomed man stands up, grabs two cameras and slings his backpack around one shoulder. He leaves his hotel room and goes to work. His work is photographing the killed, or not quite killed, the grieving, the impoverished, the under-privileged. This man is James Nachtwey, a self-declared war photographer for a career of around 20 years.

This close, very sensitively and in great detail directed documentary by Swiss director Christian Frei allows us a glimpse into the work of a man, whose pictures we either immediately recognise, or silently absorb. It is a glimpse, nothing more. It tells us something about the person James Nachtwey, but is mostly concerned with his work. The film seems fully in line with Nachtwey’s own mantra: don’t look at me, look at those people suffering from injustice, caused by the decisions made by others sitting in comfort, it is them who need your attention and awareness. And your speaking out for peace.
Read the rest of this entry »