You know, long time ago, I used to date a woman who was a photographer. She was from Tokyo.
I think I really learned from her. She was real artist, you know, and her photos were astonishing. For me they were as great as photos shot by Araki or Cartier-Bresson. They were just that unique.
She was a cameraman. A photographer. You know.
Give her cheap give-away Coca Cola camera and she will take totally great photos with it, photos you can hang to a gallery. She always carried her Leica M6 and the camera was like her third eye. Taking pictures was so natural for her.
When she took a photo, she seemed to disappear. People (even my relatives) were relaxed and at ease with her and they didn’t mind her taking a photo. In fact, they didn’t even realize for the most part.
She hated gadgets like my brand new Canon DSLR. For her the convenience of digital age meant nothing. And I begun to understand that. Sometimes she asked me to borrow her my DSLR to get a hint for shutter speed, since the metering in her M6 was shot. But she always figured it out in her mind.
She left a tiny footprint (size of a squirrel’s foot) in my heart, which keeps inspiring me. Her spirit as an artist, photographer really made influence in me.
So I want to say I am very thankful for her. That should be all.
