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Dr ROBERT ORGAN |
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MEMORIES OF JAPAN 2019 |
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The photographer of this project, Dr Robert Organ, has been
married for over 26 years to Kazuko Organ (nee Kobashi), a Japanese lady from
the city of Kurashiki in Japan. He has
visited Japan over twenty times. This
project is a vignette of Japan and was provided to Torfaen Museum for its ‘A
Celebration of Pontypool and Japan’ event in 2019 . It shows famous landmarks, such as Mount Fuji,
The Golden Temple at Kyoto, Himeji Castle, the peace statue in Nagasaki and
the snow monkeys bathing in the hot springs in the mountains near
Nagano. The Japanese love of gardens
is depicted. There are images of the
great stroll gardens of the Korakuen in Okayama, the Kenrokuen in Kanazawa and
the Kairakuen in Mito as well as the gravel gardens in the Adachi Art Gallery
in Matsue. The latter, along with the
image of the ladies watering the street, allude to the Japanese trait for
refinement, attention to detail and cleanliness. Other traditional cultural aspects are
captured in a Noh Theatre performance, an
unusually-coloured Buddhist statue, the straw adornment on the temple,
the wearing of decorative kimonos at a graduation ceremony and a wedding
costume. Many of the pictures are
typical tourist views but more intimate images are included, such as the
traditional dance lesson attended by Kazuko and the cherry blossom
celebrations, due to the unique access offered by being part of a Japanese
family. Japanese food is renowned for
its colourfulness and a glimpse of this is seen in the bright red crab retail
model which adorns one of Osaka’s most famous crab eateries. Perhaps the love of colour is
subconsciously absorbed from viewing the coy which change and glimmer like
the colours in a kaleidoscope. Click here or on “The Memories of Japan 2019 gallery” on
the left hand side of the screen to see the photographs. |