19th March, 2011
It was hard, standing where I took this shot, to escape the feelings of sadness that have come and gone consistently since the quake and tsunami of 11th March. But more than that, because of the events of the previous week we were all more vigilant and edgy about what could still happen. And, after all, I was stood right next to Sagami Bay for this shot.....
I was standing on a dock, in a village, on the bay under which the Great Kanto Earthquake had struck in 1923. A quake which was followed immediately by a typhoon. The quake itself lasted for between four and ten minutes. Together the quake and winds accounted for the lives of 140,000 people. Although the numbers are disputed, possibly up to 6000 ethnic Koreans and Chinese were murdered immediately after the quake in a frenzy of ethnic violence.
Quite a headful of stuff for a beautifully sunny, March afternoon....
The objects I was surrounded by in the spring sunshine - fishing nets, boats; the drying-racks and pegs for the seaweed - were objects typical to docks I had stood on in Fukushima; typical to the coast anywhere in Japan.
It was calming to see them where they should be, not tossed three kilometres inland as countless pictures and moments of video footage from the northern tsunami had showed.
Everything was quiet. The kids and Hiromi were in the car. Charlie, our youngest, was smiling silently at me through the glass of the rear passenger window. There was no wind. I knew I was surrounded by colour - blue pegs, a blue box, the red stripe along the hull of a nearby fishing boat, a green basket, a mop with a pink handle....... but for a few moments all I could see - in the absolute silence - was black and white.
Shadows.
alfiegoodrich.com/2011/03/japan-after-the-quake-part-1/
Tags: japan coast shadows shadow black-and-white seaside tsunami japan-earthquake 2011 hayama kanagawa nikon-d700 nikkor-135mm-f2-ais
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March 20th, 2011
Sam arrived in Japan on March 5th, for a holiday we had all been looking forward to since myself and my family first left the UK in October 2007. It was his first time to meet Charlie.
Sam's being here during a unique moment in Japan's recent history meant a lot for us as a family; his support, his help looking after the kids and keeping them entertained on the Wii, his humour... we didn't suffer in Tokyo like people in the north of Japan have but the quake brought stresses in Tokyo, stresses for the family and Sam was a big part of how we all managed to deal with it.
The week we spent around Zushi and Kamakura was very special. At moments we all felt a little guilt at enjoying a 'holiday' whilst other places a few hours' drive away were enduring heart-breaking hardships. But you can't change your destiny. We'd changed our plans from picking Sam up at the airport on March 5th and driving north to relatives in Fukushima. It'd had been a simple change of heart but one which proved, with hindsight, to probably have kept us out of harm's way.
Sam returned to the UK on March 25th. we miss him.
Mamiya 645AFDii
Mamiya 80mm f/1.9
alfiegoodrich.com/2011/03/japan-after-the-quake-part-1/
Tags: zeni-arai-benten shrine kamakura kita-kamakura kanagawa japan japanese torii religion worship prayer calm quiet earthquake japan-earthquake-2011 march-2011 tsunami photos-from-japan mamiya-645afd mamiya-80mm-f1.9 medium-format-digital sam charlie son friend baby portrait happiness
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March 20th 2011
Kamakura has some amazing shrines and none more so than the very Miyazaki-esque "Zeniarai-benten".
Set in the nap of a hill, you reach Zeniarai through a tunnel carved through the solid rock of the hillside, much like Chiyo reached the parallel world of the bath-houses and spirits in Hayao Miyazaki's animated classic, 'Spirited Away'.
A lovely, calm, relaxing, spiritual spot for my family and my friend, Sam [holidaying with us from the UK for the whole of March].
This was shot in the area at the very back of the shrine, where one washes one's money in little baskets. The shrine is dedicated to gods of prosperity.
Calm, cool, almost silent.... diginified and restrained.
Nikon D700
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 Ai
Cropped to a square in Photoshop
alfiegoodrich.com/2011/03/japan-after-the-quake-part-1/
Tags: zeni-arai-benten shrine kamakura kita-kamakura kanagawa japan japanese torii religion worship prayer calm quiet earthquake japan-earthquake-2011 march-2011 tsunami photos-from-japan nikon-d700 nikkor-50mm-f1.2-ai square
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19th March 2011
We spent a lovely day touring the coast from Zushi, to Hayama, Jogashima and down to one of our favourite places outside Tokyo: Kaneyo beach bar at Mabori-kaigan.
Had my 40th birthday party here in 2009 and we've had some great days down on the beach since.
Surreal to be on the beach playing with the kids just nine days after the same ocean washed away whole towns and villages farther north. But, whilst paying attention to the tsunami evacuation routes and shelters nearby, we felt it would be good to try and get the kids back to some sort of normality. They'd soaked up a lot of the stress that had been going on since the quake and there's nothing like running around on the sand, collecting shells and playing on the tide-line to make you feel relaxed and invigorated.
This picture - apart from my friend Sam, who was off-camera somewhere - basically encapsulates all that was dear to me to protect from danger on March 11th when our flat started rocking.
Our hearts go out to those for whom the sea will always be the thing that took away everything that was dear to them. We think all the time of those less fortunate than ourselves. We feel the best way to honour them is by donating what we can afford [clothes, time, an ear to listen] and by seizing every moment and celebrating our own lives; smiling, building, looking forward.
Mamiya 645AFDii
Mamiya 80mm f/1.9
alfiegoodrich.com/2011/03/japan-after-the-quake-part-1/
Tags: family people portrait kids children wife beach coast coastline japan-earthquake 11th-march-2011 kaneyo bar mabori-kaigan kanagawa japan japanese sand mamiya-645afd mamiya-80mm-f1.9 medium-format happy-days
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One of the shots from a week we spent in Zushi, just outside Tokyo, after the quake.
Story and plus 211 more pics from that week, here:
japanorama.co.uk/2011/03/29/japan-after-the-quake-part-1/
Mamiya 645AFDii
Mamiya 35mm f/3.5
Mamiya ZD Digital Back
Tags: mount-fuji japan japanorama japanese sea coast waves mountain sunset mamiya-645afd mamiya-35mm-f3.5 mamiya-zd-back enoshima
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