Photography

小島 一郎 (Ichirō Kojima) 1924–1964, a Japanese photographer is one of my favorites so it seems appropriate to wrap up the year with a few of his images.  He published only one photo book:

"Tsugaru: Poetry, Writings, Photography" by Ichiro Kojima (1963 / LE of 1,000 copies reprinted in 2014 )

Kojima's book is a record of the landscapes, climate and customs of the rural Tsugaru region in Aomori Prefecture.  I fell in love with the area when I was there in January 2017.  The western coast of the Tsugaru Peninsula is on the Sea of Japan while to the north is the Tsugaru Strait which separates Honshū from Hokkaidō.

Kojima spent his career photographing the natural features of the region and the traditions of the people. The book (if you can find a copy) includes text by Yojiro Ishizaka, poems in Tsugaru dialect by Kyozo Takaki, and Ichiro Kojima's photographs.

Text above in part from Wikipedia, all photographs below © 小島 一郎 (Ichirō Kojima).

I have a framed copy of that last photo above on my desk...  just love his work.

Casey

cheers

PAt

beautiful pictures.

in capturing the landscape and harsh winter conditions of the time. 3 & 4 are my favourites and I wouldn't mind framing those too.

hopefully get a chance to see Kojima's photo book... ; )

The first one with steam from the train merging into the clouds is amazing and somehow unsettling. The last one is so good and I can understand you having a copy of that. Thank you for showing them. Regards Kev.

which I understood to tend toward contrast...

Best wishes

Alkiro

and last image irresistibly conjure to me Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Affecting images Casey. Cheers, Filip

That last photo was taken by Ichiro Kojima near Inagaki (Tsugaru, Aomori Prefecture) in 1960.  See map below.  I  also indicated the cities of Hirosaki and Aomori (city) were I stayed in January 2017.  Even in 1960 the area of Tsugaru was remote and beautifully pristine... much as it is today.

Fabulous, thanks Casey for introducing 小鳥 to all of us.

In between lunch and dinner engagements I stopped by the photo museum in Ebisu to look at the work of Ichiro Kojima.  They had both the original (1963) version and the reprint from 2014... so I could compare both copies of "Tsugaru: Poetry, Writings, Photography" photos by Ichiro Kojima.  The reprint had an English language supplement with a nice history of the photographer.  The original has a tangible depth of feel but shows it's age and years of viewers use.  The quality of the images in the reprint is quite good - both books are identical.

I learned that Kojima liked to create scenes with dramatic skies in which he accentuated the light between clouds by making it black... he expressed snow with rich gradations and was known to have an eye that discovered something extraordinary from mundane subject-matter.  His father (who sold photographic supplies and inexpensive cameras) established "Hokuyo Kai", one of the oldest photo groups in Japan.  Unfortunately Kojima died at the age of 39... he only photographed seriously for about ten years.

The museum library also had a copy of "Kojima Ichiro Photographs" published by Inscript, Tokyo, Japan (2009) which is still in print... well worth a look.

Casey

This is just amazing work. It’s when you are again reminded that unless you prioritize composition nothing else really matters.

He was photographing the area where he lived, so there was a familiarity with the subject matter.  As well his major body of work was done when hardship was the norm... a feeling which he captured and which resonated with the public at that time - and still does.

What is interesting is that he only photographed for a period of about 10 short years... and developed his own [wet] printing style with heavy dodging and burning.

Thanks for the observation...
Casey

Thanks for sharing these — the last of the four is most impactful to me. 

[nt]

We all say we love this photographer or we love this watch but it’s when one commits to acquire that we get to know a person just a bit more. I can’t say that one can figure out a person through a buy but it’s definitely a good starting point for understanding somebody just a wee bit better. Have a good week ahead.

Great choice of a repost. Many here can learn from this post.

which i think was an amazing image. It made me think, so this is Casey.