The Flute Space: Deep Seeing In Japan
I had the good fortune to travel to Japan for two weeks from April 24 – May 7, 2025. During that time I participated in an exhibit at the Shimadei Gallery in Kyoto called “Sharing Visions: The Heartwork of Kyoto Journal” as part of the annual Kyotographie international photography festival. On April 26 I joined John Einarsen and several other writers, editors, and photographers from the Kyoto Journal community at an event to speak about how my work came into being. It was like coming home.
It had been eighteen years since my first and only visit to Japan. I took the opportunity to see many wonderful temples and sites, but it was really what I found walking the narrow streets that succored my attention. After a brief stop in Tokyo and several days in Kyoto, I was also able to visit Kaoru Kakizakai, my shakuhachi* sensei in the mountain town of Chichibu. I stayed in my teachers small rustic trailer and studied one piece – Sokkan – every day for a week. In-between practice sessions, when the light was useful I walked the streets with my camera and put the practice of deep seeing into action. This is what I found, what presented itself.
(Forthcoming) In the bookstore link you can preview "The Flute Space" book. The text included therein is comprised of edited excerpts from my journal while in Japan.
* a bamboo Zen flute