What did you do on this day?

I walked from an area called Sangenjaya (breakfast at a small cafe) towards Daikanyama (lunch at a nice restaurant), this is an area that I have explored on several occasions over the years; not all at once however. There were different points where I had to stop and think that I recognized a landmark, or a shop, which I had but had approached from a different direction previously. Walking through an area once is never enough, you need to visit multiple times, walk on both sides of a street, approach from various directions - then and only then can you get a picture of an area. Factoring in changes over time, nothing is ever as it was.

The remainder of my afternoon was spent at a Saul Leiter exhibit near Shibuya station, followed by dinner at a mozzarella restaurant near Roppongi.

How do you feel about the photos a year later?

I have continued to focus my editing and visual story telling on connections (what can you guess is the connection between subjects?) and looking (what are you looking at, what can you hear, what is appealing to you?). At first when I looked at the images I could not easily place where I had taken them, I knew they were not near work, a couple could be near my home … frankly I had forgotten. I dug out my journal from this time and saw where I had started my day, Sangenjaya and instantly I can recall the route I had walked and places I had seen, like a dilapidated children’s park, a block of apartments being torn down to make way for newer and more expensive condos. Places I hadn’t been in years, a building where I used to teach but hadn’t changed, however the wedding chapel near by, which was the main landmark I remember, was torn down and the lot sat empty except for the old gate.

Highlighted in my journal from this day

“Days blend together, memories become looser, goals become harder to achieve”

as bleak as this seems written below that is

“TAKE time & INVEST time, EFFORT - continue"

An encouraging reminder that as the years pass it does require more effort to accomplish goals, which I think is more rewarding in the long run than. For the year ahead, I plan to take more time for myself and my art (rather than “make time”, more on that difference at a later date), and to continue learning new skills and develop the ones I already possess.