Greetings at many Pacific island locations include fresh flower leis as a welcome gift and sign of hospitality. In traditional island fashion, athletes and guests who arrived to participate in the 5th Micronesia games on the island of Pohnpei received this lei welcome gesture from their gracious Pohnpei hosts.
太平洋の島々の多くは歓迎のしるしとして「レイ」を用いる。ミクロネシアのポンペイ州で開催された「第５回ミクロネシア競技大会」に参加する選手や関係者を出迎えるのも島の伝統に乗っ取って行われる。
The following words are the artist statement for the Mission to Micronesia exhibit. I placed here because the software on this website would not allow me to put this much text on the opening page.
Words about my photographs
My favorite kind of photograph is a simple shot that shows a person.
I believe everybody has a fantastic story to tell. To take a photograph of somebody is like opening a doorway to a very personal story. Such photos move me in a profound way. They inspire me to want to know a person and understand what their life is all about; what their experiences have been and what beliefs they hold of the world.
I really don’t care much about what type of camera I use. Any camera will do. Simple models are good for me. My favorite is the Nikon FM2 and either a 24mm or a 50mm lens. I used a digital model called a DCS720x and a 300mm lens for many of the photos you see in the Mission to Micronesia collection because I was working on an assignment that required certain photos for a client. But I am not too impressed with some of the digital camera designs. The flexibility and convenience is wonderful though. You get instant feedback and editing satisfaction from your work.
But honestly, I find most digital cameras too big and frightening. When you point these beasts at your subject, they often notice and unfortunately stop behaving naturally. When you can photograph people without them noticing you, wonderful pictures will appear. People behaving naturally are often the most revealing photographs one can make.
I constantly study other photographers’ work, both from today’s working photographers and those of the past. Some of my favorite photographers are Ami Vitale, Apichart Weerwong, Gregory Bull, Giles Peres, Simon Norfolk, Christopher Morris, and Carolyn Cole. There are many others, but those are a few examples.
In Okinawa, I really like Tomo’o Kobashigawa’s work as well as photographer who also happens to be a good friend, Seidoh. The style that Seidoh uses is very, very personal, but really visually delicious! Especially his Black & White night photos … a very cool and unique style that I enjoy over and over. There is another Okinawa photographer who I recently saw some work by that was very powerful and fantastic. This photographer’s name is Taira. His photographs, I believe, are both powerful and very important to Okinawa’s visual history.
For my photo education, I think studying other’s work is extremely important. Therefore, I do it as often as I can. I began my photography career in 1991 while living in Kin Cho, Okinawa. When I transferred to California, a very generous U.S. Marine named Rene Reyna taught me everything he knew about taking pictures. He did not keep any of his knowledge to himself and shared it all with me. I will never forget his generosity with his teachings.
Later in my career, I studied at a wonderful photography program in 1999 at Syracuse, New York. At that course, I really developed a deep deep understanding of why photos are important and how to determine a good, important, photo from just an adequate one. Since then it has been my personal and professional goal to share with and teach others about making important photographs that carry meaning and power.
As for my future, I will complete my military service in August 2003 and move to a photo career as a civilian. My military experiences have been wonderful and have allowed me to meet many fantastic friends all over the world. The best part of my service as a photojournalist in the U.S. Marine Corps is that my assignment required me to relocate to Okinawa.
My time in Okinawa has been beautiful. I am very attracted to the island culture here and the unique Ryukyu Spirit that I believe makes Okinawa one of the most special places on earth. I will continue to make photos as a photojournalist, but I know my future is as a teaching and advocate for younger people who have a desire to learn the craft of photography.
My future goals include a significant amount of teaching in the photography industry.
