me, myself and I into lomography and film

So here goes an explanation of how i got into this:

• discovered lomography at flickr a few months ago, has been hooked by it and has been taking pics with my iphone using toycamera app.
• my canon 40d has been kept in the dry box since that discovery.
• i wondered for a long time about which toy camera to start with (took me weeks!) and decided to go for a holga 120cfn, because of its square format and strong vignetting (dark corners).
• why lomo? because i wanted my photography to have a more organic and unpredictable feeling. i was tired of the sterility of digital pictures.
• i also don’t like post-processing my pictures using photoshop or similar to give them the effect i want.
• this new hobby implied buying my first scanner ever and going back to the basics of film and of course spending money on film rolls and development.
• ‘learn to look before you take photographs’ – holga—the world through a plastic lens.
• being patient: i will never see the pictures soon after shooting.
• i’m still learning.

mitaka station

and now the real lomo taken with a holga. no editing, no post-processing:

new york buildings at tobu world square

nikko in a sunny day

That trip to Zamami Island, Okinawa….

… it was hard for me to be back to reality in Tokyo and …back to the office. Patrick had invited me to join him in a trip to Okinawa in mid-October, wasn’t sure at the time since Summer in Japan was already gone and heard stories about jellyfish in the waters, but decided to have a try. Most of the group was French but there were myself, a Filipina friend of mine, one American, one Swedish and one Canadian.

I was in Okinawa first time some 10 years ago, and we didn’t explore much since at that time I didn’t have a drive license and we relied mostly on buses and taxis. By the ‘we‘ I say it’s me and someone I’m not friend with anymore.

This trip was one of the best I had in years thanks to the beautiful place which is Okinawa and mainly because of the group. Thanks for it, Patrick! I also have to say that after the trip, I had that same feeling of oh-the-good-moments-are-over when I was baptized in the sea of Parati, RJ for my first scuba diving long time ago, and fell in love with the instructor who later became my first boyfriend.

… foi dureza voltar a realidade da vida em Tóquio … e de volta ao trabalho. Principalmente depois de voltar de Okinawa com grupo super legal. Patrick me convidou para se juntar a ele, seus amigos franceses e uns outros não franceses. Outubro já é considerado fora de época, talvez até tivesse água-viva no mar, mas fui assim mesmo e não me arrependi.

Okinawa é minha segunda vez. A primeira sendo uns 10 anos atrás com uma pessoa que já foi minha amiga e que não é mais (uma longa história), ainda sem licença para dirigir e só na base de ônibus e táxis.

Foi uma das melhores viagens graças ao lugar que era lindo, ao grupo com quem acabei me dando bem e graças principalmente ao Patrick que organizou tudo. A parte triste é que essa viagem me trouxe aquela triste e saudosa sensação que tive quando tive o batismo de mergulho em Parati, na qual me apaixonei pelo meu instrutor e que no final acabou se tornando meu primeiro namorado.

Snakes in bottles

Very creative ideia from the Frenchies: 5 cigars + 3 Reflex cameras

The view! From the restaurant veranda

Blue, blue, blue!

Going to another beach

Good English books in my public library

I live in Mitaka City, Tokyo and there is a library within 25min. walking where I can borrow books from. Most of the books I take home are in English, and sometimes I take Japanese books too. Its collection in English is not huge, but I’m satisfied with that.

It was there I discovered the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and was mesmerised by the story. Then a year later I borrowed another book from the same author and took it to my trip to Vietnam last December. Probably it’s not the right thing to do, but I usually do that with Lonely Planet guides as well.

Moro na cidade de Mitaka em Tóquio e  há uma biblioteca a 25 minutos andando da minha casa. A maioria dos livros que pego são em inglês e de vez em quando, ainda pego um ou outro em japonês. O número de livros em inglês não é assim enorme, mas fico contente com o que há por lá.

Foi lá que descobri a existência do livro The Kite Runner (O Caçador de Pipas) do escritor Khaled Hosseini e amei a estória. Um ano depois peguei um outro livro do mesmo escritor e o levei na minha viagem ao Vietnã ano passado em dezembro. Acho que não é certo fazer isso, porém já fiz isso com vários guias de viagem do Lonely Planet.

3 books I borrowed this week!

Ah matsuri da! (Oh it’s matsuri!)

This year I decided to go to Tohoku region and see 5 matsuris at once! As soon as I got to know the official dates of these Japanese festivals, I booked accommodation and transport ASAP. Here in Japan, if you don’t do that, you’re so done! The people attending these matsuris came from all over Japan, and they were so kind to always come out of their way for me to take pictures.

Esse ano resolvi ir ao norte do Japão e ver 5 festivais japoneses de uma vez só! Assim que soube das datas oficiais, reservei acomodação e transporte. No Japão, em assunto de viagem, se você bobeia você já era! O povo que tava lá tinha vindo de várias partes do Japão, e eles foram tão legais comigo porque toda vez que me posicionava para tirar fotos, eles saíam do campo de visão da minha câmera.

Akita Kanto Matsuri (秋田竿燈まつり）

Akita Kanto Matsuri (秋田竿燈まつり）

Akita Kanto Matsuri (秋田竿燈まつり）

Hirosaki Neputa Matsuri (弘前ねぷたまつり)

Hirosaki Neputa Matsuri (弘前ねぷたまつり)

Aomori Nebuta Matsuri (青森ねぶたまつり）

Aomori Nebuta Matsuri (青森ねぶたまつり）

Aomori Nebuta Matsuri (青森ねぶたまつり）

Goshogawa Tachi Neputa Matsuri (五所川原立ねぷたまつり）

Sendai Tanabata Matsuri (仙台七夕まつり)

I also filmed some parts of each matsuri, besides one in Sendai, as you can see in my YouTube videos: Também filmei partes de cada festival, fora o de Sendai, e você pode conferir no YouTube: