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Personal
Photographie
I have been fortunate to work and live in both Europe and Asia, and have traveled extensively in these parts of the world. I enjoy photography--not simply for the sake of capturing images of a place to show others--but also as a means to seek out and discover something of the essence, the feeling, of a place through its architecture, people, customs, landscapes, etc. One place where I have been able to do this extensively is in Japan, as I have lived and worked in Japan, on and off, for the past 13 years. I have assembled some pictures from my most recent period while living in Japan. Some of the more interesting places I will assemble here for viewing on subsequent revisions.
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Revision 4/4/04: I have reorganized this page a bit, so as to lay it out for easier access. I have been going back through my slide collections and digital and print photographs to assemble an assortment of images that should be of interest. As I find time to write about experiences, I'll do so--in order to put images into context. Some links will be to individual photographs (rather than storing a thumbnail image) whereas others will be to other pages with the photos. Enjoy!
Many of these jaunts are in response to attending research workshops and conferences, or as side trips for consulting gigs in between academic semesters. Well, actually, I get bored and I need to travel....I guess I could blame my grandfather (in terms of genetics). He ran off to drive an ambulance for the French during World War I, leaving my grandmother and my uncle (a baby), and stayed in Paris for almost 3 years after the Armistice in order to study at the Sorbonne (the Frenchman that he was....). He also went down into the jungles of northern Brazil and Colombia to work with my grandmother's uncle Burtchell Jekyll to build railroads (the Madeira Mamere railroad in particular, featured in a National Geographic article back in the late 1980s). He came home after contracting malaria in the jungle. He also worked with my great-great uncle Burt on the Panama Canal. Uncle Burt had a coffee and cattle plantation on an island off the coast of Cuba, and my mother and my aunt used to go there when they were girls back in the 1930s. The plantation and the island ended up in the hands of the Cuban government after Castro came to power. Now these were interesting guys who lived full lives. They lived in great, wondrous and perilous times.....
| Year | Country | Location/Event/Time | Description | Photos/Page |
| 2004 | New Mexico & Arizona | Chaco Canyon, Aztec Ruins (Aztec, NM), Canyon de Chelly (Chinle, AZ) | I was out in Santa Fe for a workshop, and took a few days to hike and explore the pueblo ruins of "those who same before". The word "Anasazi" is used to describe the bands of nomadic native Americans who settled this region of North America over 1000 years ago; however, it is a Navajo word, and not one that the pueblo descendants (the Zuni, the Hopi, the Acoma, etc.) used to describe their ancestors. It is believed that the ancestors left these lands due to exhaustion of natural resources and climatic changes (drought), and moved further south into central/southern New Mexico, where the modern pueblo nations are currently located. The Navajo and Apache tribes arrived in the 4 Corners region much later, and remain there today. The Navajo nation is the largest native American tribe, with over 200,000 members. It is quite spectacular to drive and hike through Navajo lands; such incredible beauty, and relatively minimal development (i.e., exploitation or spoilage) of the land. | |
| 2004 | Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur, Malacca (Melaka), Penang and Cameron Highlands | I was invited to present a seminar at a university in Malaysia and to also visit colleagues. I had a wonderful opportunity to visit places I had not been in almost 20 years, and to photograph them using digital photography. |
Kuala Lumpur
Cameron Highlands |
| 2003 | Spain | Madrid and the Andalusia region (near the southern coast) | I went to Madrid for a workshop, then traveled down to Sevilla, and onto the cradle of the Moorish presence in Spain: Granada and Cordoba. The Moors were here for more than 800 years, and their presence is deeply felt in architecture, cuisine, customs. In an unscientific observation, I noticed how the Flamenco style of music--particularly the singing and vocal articulation--is reminiscent of the muezzin (call to prayer in Islam). I had just come from a trip to Malaysia, a quarter of the way around the world, and I saw similar influence--although very subtle, yet unmistakable. | |
| 2003 | Japan | Tokyo, Kamakura and the Atami Coast | JapanDec03 | |
| 2003 | Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia03 | |
| 2003 | Mexico | Mexico City | I went to Mexico to attend a conference, I think. I took side trips to Teotihuacan (the city on the plain built by the Toltecs) and south to Puebla to check out Mexican tile and pottery for a friend of mine getting into the import business. Beautiful stuff. | Mexico03 |
| 2003 | United States | Northern California - San Francisco and the Wine Country (Summer) | Check out this page for the photos and the details. This is how I spent some of my July 4th holiday vacation during the summer break (hustling research bucks with California contacts, visiting friends and relatives, enjoying holiday and regional activities). | WineCountry03 |
| 2003 | Japan | Tokyo | JapanJun03 | |
| 2003 | Japan | Tokyo - Shogatsu (New Years) | Check out this page for the photos and the details. This is how I spent some of my Christmas vacation during the semester break (attempting to hustle research bucks with Japanese contacts, visiting friends and colleagues, enjoying new year's activities). | |
| 2001 | Japan | Tokyo - Minami Aoyama area, Chokoku-ji Temple (Early Autumn) | This temple is the Tokyo Branch of Eihei-ji Temple, of the Soto Zen Sect. One element of my time in Japan was my immersion in Soto Zen, which involves the intense practice of zazen meditation as its primary means of attaining enlightenment. I spent some amount of time at this temple practicing zazen meditation with other lay people. It is a wonderful place to begin the discovery of one's true nature, under the watchful--though strict--eye of a Zen monk. Lord knows, I need it... |
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| 2001 | Japan | Tokyo - Asakusa area, Senso-ji Temple (Late Summer) | This temple is part of the Shin Buddhist (or Pure Land) sect. It is a beautiful complex of buildings nestled in the heart of a popular Tokyo shopping area. The colonnade leading up to the temple has a lot of really cool shops, carrying all things Japanese--from goofy motorized toys to Samurai sword sets and Noh theatre masks. | |
| 2001 | China | Beijing - Forbidden City, Great Wall (section at Badaling) | I was visiting several universities in Beijing (BUPT) and Shanghai (Fudan) with some colleagues, staying at the Hotel Kepinski (a European hotel "flag"), located near the Hard Rock Cafe in Beijing. These are pictures from day visits to the Forbidden City and section of the Great Wall at Badaling just northwest (~50 km) from Beijing. | 1
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Forbidden City Great Wall at Badaling |
| 2001 | Japan | Kamakura: The Great Buddha, Daibutsu butsu-zo (Early Autumn) | No matter how many times I visit this site, I am continually struck by the calmness in the composure of the statue. Built in the 12th century (if my memory serves me correctly), the statue has weathered many storms and political upheavals in Japan through the centuries, and gives testimony to the timeless message of the Buddha--one of serenity and calm amidst a world that seems to be turning ever faster and becoming ever more chaotic. In earlier times, it was housed inside of a temple structure (like the great Butsu-zo statue at Todai-ji temple in Nara), but this outer structure was destroyed by fire some time ago. | |
| 1985 | Hong Kong, China | Hong Kong (peninsula), Guanzhou | I had stopped of in Hong Kong with my ex-wife to visit friends in the city. I went on onto China, to Zhenshen and Guanzhou to check out some things, before we left on our way to Malaysia (where I was consulting with the local NCR organizations in Malaysia and Singapore on a banking IT project). At this time, Hong Kong was still in the hands of the British, and the Chinese border between the Hong Kong's New Territories and China was fortified. | 1 2 3 |
| 1984 | Norway | Hardangervidda (Hardanger plateau,central Norway), Hardangerfjorden (Hardanger fjord, western Norway), Helmedahl. (Early Autmumn) | I was living in Oslo, working on a project with NCR for the banking IT consortium Fellesdata. These are slides I have recently scanned of some weekend koering trips. | 1 |
