This old fella may once have spent his weekends painting the town red, but now he’s more than happy to relax by the river,
and contentedly colour his canvas instead.
Riverside relaxation
Photographs from a small group of islands
Photographs from a small group of islands
This old fella may once have spent his weekends painting the town red, but now he’s more than happy to relax by the river,
and contentedly colour his canvas instead.
Tyler says
I love the tunnel like composure that the first image presents itself in, leading to the artist. Also thanks for taking the 2nd photo so we can see his painting. I didn’t want to be thinking all day, “I wonder what he was painting a picture of?”
Real question is….did he include you taking a picture of him painting in the painting?
Lee says
Thanks Tyler, glad you liked the first pic. I was really pleased the way that one came out. I also couldn’t rest without knowing what he was painting, so I had to take the second shot.
And as for me being immortalised in his painting — no chance. He was so engrossed in his painting he didn’t even seem to notice I was there.
andy says
tyler, no he didn’t. An artist who wants to just peacefully paint scenery wouldn’t do such a thing.
Also lee, I liked how you linked the pictures to a poetic way with your words. painting the town red to painting scenery was an interesting correlation. Most people would just see him as being an old man painting a picture outdoors peacefully but you brought his youth to life with that. You’re showing that he wasn’t always as simpleminded and peaceful as this. He was just like any other of us at our given ages. The picture and what you said gave true life to the man.
Lee says
Cheers Andy!
I often see old fellas like this happily painting by rivers or in parks, and it always makes me wonder about their lives. And I can only hope that their younger days were at least slightly as contended as they look whilst painting.
Mann says
Very nice! Really like the first picture. Looks very very peaceful!
David LaSpina / JapanDave says
I also really like the first shot. The DoF is just perfectly. Wonderful job!
I see a lot of this here in Okazaki. Many of those older folks are pretty good artists.
If I may ask, what plugin do you use to make the photos blow up when I click on them? The one I use on japandave.com is similar, but I can’t figure out how to make it darken the screen like yours does.
Lee says
Thanks a lot Dave!
As for the plugin, I use Lightbox, and set it to display the picture with a dark background. There are few colours to choose from. I’ve used it for a long time now without any real issues, so I’d recommend giving it a look.
andy says
I would hope so as well Lee. Since there are so many elderly people doing that, I doubt that to be the case. They can just be peaceful now. They had more responsibility in the past not to mention it was more chaotic at that time for Japan. They must be content with just being able to peacefully do what they enjoy now like reading, painting, drawing or whatever they enjoy. I really hope for their sake that their life was peaceful though.
Peterson says
this is great stuff!!