Tokyo Snippets

These are just a few pieces from a recent trip to Tokyo.  The last pic should remind you that when you sleep on the train be cool about it, look good--you never know who's watching:)  Enjoy

Rainy Night In Brooklyn

This is my girl Amanda Adams-Louis after escaping the rain in Manhattan and jumping into a cab headed to Brooklyn.  Amanda is an amazing photographer and you can check her work out at: http://www.lafotographeuse.com

John

This is John.  He is from the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans.  John recently showed me around the Lower Ninth and schooled me on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.  He is without question one of the funniest and most intelligent people I have ever come across in my 40 years on this earth. I owe him these pictures and more.  If I don't get them to him soon he is going to kill me:) 

Feelin' It!

These cats were off the hook.  The legendary DJ Moni was in Nagoya and I had an opportunity to meet her and witness her amazing skills on the 1's and 2's. I've got pics of Moni coming up soon.

This is Tammi Cool and Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro, a Tokyo based funk band that performed during our Nippon In Black art exhibition.  This was a great performance. 

Issa The Great

This is Issa, the son of my good friends Imani Perry and Chris Rabb.  Issa is truly one of the coolest kids I know.  Unfortunately I have not spent as much time around him as I would like, however, as you can see, he is a photographer's dream.  I just love how children are such complete expressions of our innate creativity.  One of our greatest challenges as adults is to cultivate and expand upon that creativity that is ours from the beginning.  Do your self a favor--let Issa inspire you to live as authentically as you possibly can:)

Crossing The "Bridge"

I captured these shots in downtown Kyoto near Kyoto station--the main train and public transportation hub in the city.  I was walking by this mural and noticed how people passing by were kind of blending into the picture.  So I stopped, clicked and thought--"wow this might be interesting."   

The Second Line

I took the third shot on Frenchmen St. near the French Quarter in New Orleans.  A bunch of us got lucky and caught a Second Line procession.  Is it me or does everybody in the New Orleans play some kind of instrument?  The other two flicks were taken in a spot called Bullets.  I texted a buddy of mine from New Orleans and told him that I was at Bullets and he texted me back saying--"man I hope you don't get shot." My eyes got big, I scanned the room and figured that everybody was having too much fun to think about shooting--but the point was well taken:)  

  

Night Of The Living Geisha

Last night we took our friends Steve, Sharon and Mariel out to Gion (GEE-OWN) in Kyoto. Gion is a famous Geisha district and it was packed with tourists.  If you are lucky you will see a Geiko (Kyoto's name for Geisha) or Maiko (Geisha apprentices) deftly scurrying along Gion's narrow streets in route to their next appointment where they will delight patrons in the fine arts of entertainment that might include everything from playing music to serving drinks.  Well we got lucky because Maiko and Geiko were out in full force last night  spilling out of restaurants and cabs at a rate faster than anything I had ever witnessed before.  I had my trusty little Lumix LX-3 and I caught a few flicks without flash.  The best camera is truly the one that you have in your hand.  Enjoy! 

Chocolate Boy Wonder Pete Rock

A couple of years ago one of my students informed me that the great Pete Rock (yes the other half of C. L. Smooth) was spinning at a club in downtown Kyoto and that I should come down and check him out.  Of course he didn't have to ask--I was damn there one of the first people in line.  To my surprise, one of my boys from college, Corey Smyth (Blacksmith Entertainment-Talib Kweli, Jean Grae etc.) was Pete's manager and we reconnected and hung out the next day at Jet Set Records (famous Hip-Hop and all things Black Music store) and went to dinner. These are few flicks from the outing.  By the way, Pete was absolutely one of the most gracious and humble cats that I had ever come across in the industry.  Buy his records, he's a chill dude and funny as hell!

Kids On A Plane

I'm always snapping shots of my kids on the low.  They are so use to me "sneaking" shots that they don't even look up or seem to notice me.  These are straight out of the camera with no post-processing. 

The Incomparable Tamar-Kali

Bootzilla Baby!

Half Mandrill Half Mandela