Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Emptiness

earth_water_fire_wind_emptiness__book_coverNaomi and I are excited to announce our upcoming book Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Emptiness: Tokyo Landscape. Taking inspiration from the five elements in Japanese Buddhism, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Emptiness is a homage to a city we called home for ten years. Starting from the simple question of what is the natural landscape of Tokyo, the book weaves a quiet narrative of this city through space and time.

80 photographs, 1 illustration, text in English and Japanese, 96 pages, 8.5”x11”.

Available spring, 2015. Click on the image for a larger view.

Our Books Have Arrived

otohime_booksNaomi’s poetry book has arrived. Naturally, we are very excited about this. The text is in Japanese and you can find out more about her book here. On that page you will also find a link for a pdf sample you can download and two audio tracks of Naomi reading her poems. You can purchase the book from us. Shipping is free, but we do not accept returns.

Carmen Elisabeth Puchianu—Translations Poetry Festival

translations_2011_poets-8This is one of a series of portraits I did for Translation: Bates International Poetry Festival, 2011. Carmen Elisabeth Puchianu is a wonderful poet from Romania. Her dynamic reading and humor were captivating. You can see her performance at the Translations website as well as the performances from the other seven poets that appeared. An iBook of the festival for the iPad can be downloaded here: Translations – Claudia Aburto Guzmán & William Ash. A pdf version of the book is on the Translations website. Click on the image for a lager view.

Translations: Bates International Poetry Festival, 2011

translations_2011_cover_webTranslations: Bates International Poetry Festival 2011 documents this creative event featuring eight poets from around the world: Polina Barskova (Russia), Rhea Côté Robbins and Robert Farnsworth (United States), Francisca López (Spain), Naomi Otsubo (Japan), Danny Plourde (Canada), Carmen Elisabeth Puchianu (Romania), and Miguel Ángel Zapata (Peru). These poets spent five days performing their poetry in their native language and interacting with students and faculty on translations of their work. Contained in this volume are the original poems and the translations that came from this collaboration. Essays on the meaning of festivals, insights into translations, translation in pedagogy, and reflections on multilingualism from Enrique Yepes, Jane Costlow, Sarah Strong, Claudia Aburto Guzmán, Laura Balladur, Francisca López, and Raluca Cernahoschi round out this fascinating volume.

Use the following link to go to the Apple iBookstore: Translations – Claudia Aburto Guzmán & William Ash

Futon Daiko—The Picture Story

How do you separate luck and talent? Talent can get you good images, competent images. But those magic moments, where do they come from? Personally, I feel those pictures are given, rather than taken.futon_daiko_nightThis image from Futon Daiko: A Japanese Festival is a result of many chance factors. The crowd was huge and pushed me back against a stone lantern; the force of the crowd split the lens hood on another camera in my bag. Needing some kind of support to make a long exposure—a tripod was not going to work—I  clamped my camera on a steel I-beam supporting a branch of an 800-year-old camphor tree at arms length above my head.  So far, so good. Just one problem. How do I frame the picture? I could not see through the viewfinder.

For those without a photography background, there is a technique or style known as shooting full frame. The photographer frames the image in the camera and does not recompose or crop later. I have used this style for my entire career—an unnerving way to work as there are no fixes later. So guessing the camera position, guessing the focus, guessing the exposure, here is the result, just as the camera saw it.

How much of this image is mine? How much luck? How much the good graces of the god Hachiman? I doubt the question can ever be answered. But I feel blessed to be there to take the picture, or maybe to receive it.

Futon Daiko - William Ash