I like observing ruins, seeing the effect of time on materials, seeing how the nature recaptures its territory. And often scenes are very evocative; it seems people just disappeared, forgetting tiny pieces of their lives at that place.
I’ve discovered the website of a japanese photographer who seeks abandoned factories, hotels, hospitals, houses, parks all over Japan and takes wonderful photos. He must be my favorite photographer actually.
Hashima Island (端島) is a small island in the Nagasaki Prefecture about 15 kilometers from Nagasaki itself. At the end of the 19th century, Mitsubishi installed a factory for retrieving coal from the bottom of the sea. A bit later, they built large concrete buildings for accomodating the workers. In the late 50’s, the island had the highest population density in the world. Mitsubishi closed the coal mines in 1974, the island is completely abandoned since then. It is also called “Ghost Island” by the way, and the access is prohibited.
If you visit the gallery, don’t miss the “Next Page” link at the bottom right (it’s written in japanese but you should find it).
I took this photo in 2002 when I was living in Japan. I had a 6-tatami flat close to the Kintetsu-Gakuenmae train station. This picture was taken from the Kintetsu train while going to Osaka. Japan is my third home country. Two first ones? France and Switzerland.
I’ve been playing around with Processing for some months and I’ve eventually made something that is now online. It’s a kind of machine which produces abstract paintings. One interacts with it using the mouse, first by drawing one or several lines, then by moving the mouse’s cursor on the canvas (new lines can be drawn at any time though). It’s quite straightforward, just try it!
I was in Beijing (北京) some months ago and I recorded a musician playing erhu (二胡) close to Tiananmen Square. He was playing in a tunnel under the huge street in front of the Forbidden City’s main gate. The sound was beautiful, I guess this man chose this place for its natural reverberation. I feel nostalgic (for what?) every time I listen to this music…
