David Willems 2010

More Vimeo

davidwillemsblogger — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:33:22 +0000

I’ve uploaded 2 more videos on VIMEO. The demolition was my first ever ‘take’ with the canon 5D II.

The DMZ is a repeat of some photos which I took in South Korea in March but with the added sound and put through the Final Cut Pro wringer. The sound is apparently an old classic South Korean song which I recorded on-site during the guided tour.

here are the links: http://www.vimeo.com/11353184
and
http://www.vimeo.com/11355629

Easter project : ‘Japanese Ferries’

davidwillemsblogger — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:19:12 +0000

Dear All,

It’s been a while but I hope it was worth the wait. The last 2 1/2 weeks have gone by really fast and were quite productive. I’m proud to have made my first multimedia presentation and I’m not totally unhappy with the result. Tweaks here and there should be made, but that would take more time. Most people in our group who used FCP or another program probably experienced the same very steep learning curve but in the end I’m glad I got on the train to multimedia heaven (or is it hell?).

My project was on Japanese ferries and you can see it on HI-DEF at vimeo:

http://www.vimeo.com/11336277

(don’t forget to click the full screen button )

I hope you enjoy it. Please use headphones as I tried to make the sound be very atmospheric. Please also have the patience to sit it out till the bitter end…. it is 10 minutes long.

If you want to read the introduction, you can read it here below:

That’s all for now. Hope to see your work too!

Introduction to ‘Japanese Ferries’ part 1 and part 2:

Shikoku is the smallest of Japan’s Big Four islands, located south of Honshu
and east of Kyushu and historically regarded as remote, rural and provincial
as it was cut off from the rest of Japan by the Inland Sea. Amongst Japanese it
is best known for it’s citrus fruits, some of the country’s most beautiful castles
and the Dogo onsen, Japan’s oldest natural hot spring bath house.
It is also visited by a great number of pilgrims who try to follow in the
footsteps of Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Bhuddism
and visit the 88 sacred temples spread around the island on a 1200km route.

The mountainous island is still now considered remote and it was not till 1984
that the first bridge connected Shikoku with the more industrial areas
of Osaka and Hiroshima. Now it has 3 bridges amongst which the
Akashi Kaikyo bridge, the world’s longest suspension bridge.

Many welcome the several hours on the boats as a pleasant reprieve
from car travel and time is well used to enjoy a meal and rest.
Westerners might be surprised to learn there are few tables
and chairs on board as most space is divided into large
carpeted spaces of approximately 30sq/m and furniture is absent.
As in most Japanese houses, shoes are taken off and people
simply sit down on the floor. In a calm manner, entire families,
business travelers, traveling farmers, students and groups of friends
occupy the empty spaces and make themselves at home.
Journeys mostly start with a meal, followed by some reading
or watching tv on the highly sophisticated telephones.
Although the constant vibration and resonating hum of the engine
is the only real complaint people have about traveling
by boat, it also seems to put a calming blanket over
it’s passengers.
After a short while most people put their heads down and sleep.

April 5, 2010

davidwillemsblogger — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 10:52:19 +0000

Yesterday’s pix:

april 4, 2010

davidwillemsblogger — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 16:16:39 +0000

Just a little description of today’s photos:
a cat and a rooster living in perfect harmony on the grounds of a Buddhist temple in Matsuyama, more cherry blossom, pet cemetery, bamboo shoot harvest, a very cool junkyard, a very cool little car, an amazing gorge/waterfall, a tree with spiderleg-like roots, tools at an old Japanese farmhouse and a derelict japanese storage house. The very pregnantcat belongs to the organic farm. We went to friends of my vegan friend to drop off some of the seaweed we were given and to say hello. They have the cutest kid. As we arrived Momoko just started to prepare to make her own miso, which takes about a week.
Kika, their kid runs around barefooted in the cold hill weather and doesn’t seem to mind.
They had a friend and her 2 kids visit as well and made us all a nice vegatarian home grown meal.
The cute kids reminded me of own of my own godchildren whose birthday it is today.

Happy birthday Mans and I wish I could give you a big hug in person!

After dinner we went to look at the local Sakura tree which is 400 years old and needed some well deserved support.

April 3 2010 part 3 Public Bath House

davidwillemsblogger — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 15:45:42 +0000

Finally, a without going too deep into the difference between onsen and a sento, I’ve really started to appreciate the bathhouse and natural spring/spa culture. On my last trip in Japan I found this beautiful (beauty is in the eye of the beholder) old public bathhouse. We didn’t have time then to enter. The second time it took us forever to find it again and it was closed. By now, this bath house had become a quest. I finally had a scrub in it and asked permission to photograph and it was granted. The place has been in operation since 1915 and I’m afraid it will not survive another 5… Old Japan is rapidly disappearing.

April 3 2010, part 2

davidwillemsblogger — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 14:59:23 +0000

After that, we drove down the coast. It was the first real nice sunny day of the year but the beaches were empty still. Some sill Japanese stuff on the way such as a statue of liberty. at the furthest Western point of Shikoku, there’s a lighthouse where we found a couple of old ladies pulling seaweed (wakame) out of the freezing water.
The one in the water with the full drysuit was 62, her mother 85 and a friend 76. Though people. They gave us a big bag of seaweed which my friend the vegan really appreciated.

April 3, 2010, A day out in the countryside

davidwillemsblogger — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:41:58 +0000

We’ve decide to take a drive out in the countryside. The weather was beautiful and finally the temperature went through the 15 C barrier. (it had been raining the last 2 days.
First stop was getting supplies at the supermarket where upon entering, 8 employees bow and probably say something in the order of ‘WELCOME, your Honoured Customer”. Unfortunately you’re not allowed to take photographs in the surreal surroundings….
We ventured off the main roads into small villages and tumbled upon a little farmers’ market where mochi was being made in the old traditional way. Mochi is the preferred Japanese dessert made out of rice and red bean paste with different additional coverings such as seaweed, roasted sesame etc.

March 31 2010. More Cherry Blossom!

davidwillemsblogger — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:08:07 +0000

I’ve been lucky: The Cherry Blossom is just exploding around me.

My friend’s father had a bit of a Cherry Blossom picknik in a park in Matsuyama last wednesday. I’ve never seen people have so much fun in Japan. Starting to drink sake and sochu at 11 AM helps.

Here’s Mr. Murakami and his friends celebrating the cherry blossom:
150 photos of Cherry Blossom Party

Sunday, March 28, Cherry Blossom, Osaka Castle… I Love Japan

davidwillemsblogger — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:36:57 +0000

I do love Japan. Instead of people cutting in front of me to get a train ticket (Incheon, Korea), I just have to glance at a map and people offer to help me find the way. I’m probably exaggerating and extrapolating two chance encounters…

But no, the atmosphere is immediately different. This is my second time through Osaka in less than 4 months and this is a very pleasant city. I arrived around noon and took advantage of the FREE WIFI at the airport to plan my next 10 days a little bit. In the evening, I’m taking my first ferry. I will not sleep much. I will photograph and get a 1/4 of my Easter Project done. But for now, I have a good 8 hours in Osaka to spend and the tourist information (it’s sunday, yes, they are open and very helpful) tells me there is 30-40% of the cherry blossom at the Osaka Castle. I’m off to Osaka Castle. With my 16 kg of Camera gear on my back and my 14 Kg of bagpack on my BELLY. (should be the other way around, but this is the most comfortable. Being a photographer is a curse when you travel. Not to worry. As I recall, most (if not all) train and metrostations have lockers. I arrive at the station (ok , it took me 3 different subway maps to figure out) (Japan has officially 4 different written languages and the trains and subways and buses are privatized, meaning different maps for every company), so I arrive at the station close to Osaka castle and yes, there is an oversized locker available. I put my bagpack away, have a quick nice mabo tofu, and head off to the Castle. Immediately the atmosphere is so different from Korea. People are leisurely enjoying themselves, stylishly. They ride bicycles, there are family outings, there are very hip (well behaved) youngsters, it feels very bobo, I’ve arrived in the future.

I pass through the castle park gate and people are selling really nice plants and trees for not little money. Nicer than Columbia rd. Definitely quieter. When I leave the grounds several hours later, the plants are still there, without a guard. They just leave them there in the park. Nobody steals in this country. Kids drink alcohol, have a campfire and bbq, and well behave. They clean up after themselves, they’re not loud. There is music, creativity, nice family interaction, community feeling and people are enjoying themselves. No police in sight. I wish I was 20 years younger and as hip and as those cool kids.

It must have been a lucky day: to start off, it’s about 10 degrees warmer, the cherry blossoms are blooming, it’s a Sunday, people are happy and romance is in the air. It’s spring. And I’m in Japan.

I’m putting up too many photos, but I hope you can get a feeling of the atmosphere.

A World Best Air Hub

davidwillemsblogger — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:05:42 +0000

After Simone’s encouraging words, I decided to continue my update on the last couple of days.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to do full size photos on the blog itself and will upload galleries instead as it just takes too much time to upload single photos with captions. (solution anybody???) (it took me 3 hours to do the DMZ post…)

So here are some photos of the Seoul, Incheon airport on Sunday April 28th. There should be some nice stock images in there. The last picture is of a viewing platform in Osaka.

Enjoy