Gion Streets in Black and White

A few black and white shots on a dreary February day from Gion, Kyoto’s famous Geisha district.The cloud ceiling hung low and grey and occasionally a thin veil of drizzle would drape across the pre-Spring February day. Kyoto, the old capital of the empire, looks today as it did then. A cultural time capsule or a tourist destination; the lantern lined alleys of teashops somehow remained quaint and rustic, devoid of the kitsch that could very easily claim them. The small wooden bridges span the same tiny river that still flows through the city. Occasionally a taxi might break the illusion as it comes down one of Gion’s narrow cobblestone roads, bumping and jostling as it goes; for the most part though traffic is limited to pedestrians and a grandparent slowly and steadily churning past on a bicycle. Sounds of business echo throughout the alleys, and while difficult to determine the origin they’re wonderful in providing ambiance. Sloped and tiled pagoda roofs give the simple lined buildings a uniform elegance while the massive 5 storied Yasaka Pagoda; the last remnant of the Hokanji Temple, towers above as if keeping that watchful parental eye on its tiny wooden children below. I feel the black and white helps capture the timeless of these old streets quite well, and helps mitigate the lack of light I had to work with that day. During editing I applied a Holga filter and increased film grain to make the images seem older.

 

14 May This entry was published on May 14, 2013 at 3:52 am. It’s filed under Black and White and tagged asia, black and white, cademartori, digital, endless, frame, frank, geisha, Gion, holga, japan, kyoto, photo, photography, postaday. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.