John Beeman Photography: Featured Galleries and Collections

toys

johnbeeman@mac.com (John Beeman Photography) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 02:31:00 GMT

In an attempt to experience a new relationship with my toys, I have begun photographing them. By lending these objects the photograph's mark of the real and energizing them with a sense of play it is my goal to animate them, at the same time asking what real really is.

Utsukushigahara open air museum

johnbeeman@mac.com (John Beeman Photography) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:26:00 GMT

During a trip to Nagano with my wife and our friends the Ninomiyas we visited the Utsukushigahara-kogen-bijutsukan.

Atop a one of the highest mountains in the range known as the Japanese alps there is an outdoor sculpture park. The impressive scenic view of the vast mountain range is foregrounded by a landscape littered with large-scale sculpture. The works exhibited are primarily modern metal works exploring color, volume and surface textures, but there are some made from different materials and in different modes as well. Many of the pieces are from Japanese artists, but in general the museum has acquired work from artists all over the world. All together there are roughly 350 works.

With my time in Japan coming to an end, I realized I wouldn't be returning to the museum. The giant park is too large for me to have walked the whole thing lugging camera and tripod. So I went leisurely and photographed only a few of the pieces that appealed to me, and one that provides some what of an overview.

Nagano

johnbeeman@mac.com (John Beeman Photography) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 01:26:00 GMT

My wife, my friends the Ninomiyas and I went for an off-season trip to the popular ski resort area Nagano. We stayed in a hotel based on swiss style resorts. We spent the evening in the onsen and reading Japanese children's books.

The first photo in this series is a tree wrapped in starlights at the steps of the hotel's entrance. The large building behind the three trees is a lavish dog house. The view of sky and mountains is from the balcony of my room.

The photos of rice fields were taken in a valley near the mountain the resort was on.

Daibutsu Hiking Trail

johnbeeman@mac.com (John Beeman Photography) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:46:00 GMT

One Sunday while living in Japan my wife a friend and I took a hike in Kamakura. The trail began at Zeniaraibeten and lead to the Kamakura Daibutsu, Japan's second largest Buddha.

Zeniaraibeten is a Shinto shrine set into a cave with a small stream running through. There is a beautiful garden and many tori gates there. In this collection of photos there is one of a stone lion taken in this garden with agisai in bloom next to him. The shrine its self is dedicated to snake spirits, and is famous for its magical properties in giving good fortune in finances. People from all over Japan come to Zeniaraibeten to wash their money in the stream.

After leaving the shrine we walked roughly two miles along the forested tops of Kamakura's low mountains to the temple of Daibutsu. It was a beautiful summer day and all the leaves were deep green, and the sun spotted the world as it filtered through their canopy. We encountered many middle school children hiking the same trail in their black and while uniforms while on "field day."

All the members of our group had already been to Daibutsu, so we decided to walk a little further on through the city to Hase Dera. A beautiful place, the temple is known for its flower garden, coi pond and golden statue of the buddhist deity Kannon. Visitors filled the grounds as the garden's agisai was "man kai" (in full bloom). There are restrictions preventing photography of the kannon, and I was disinclined to make photos of the agisai. I did, however, make one photo while at the temple. In a bamboo grove there is a small building, and in that building there is a rotating structure filled with the teaching of Buddha. If for whatever reason you cannot read the texts, you can go here and turn this structure containing them and thereby receive the same benefit.

That was the last photo of that day. After making it we sat outside the little building ate lunch and enjoyed the garden. Then went home.

tsukiji

johnbeeman@mac.com (John Beeman Photography) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:38:00 GMT

Photos from the worlds largest fish market in Tokyo.