Kjell Hahn

so, i was in thailand for 10 days for two reasons 1)my japanese visa had run out and 2) i had gotten too anxious worrying about working and my artwork. I needed a restart and didnt have much money. i spent a short time in bangkok but quickly headed south looking for a less hectic environment.
here are some photographs from my little canon g10. i wrote descriptions on most of the photos.
(note: *you can keep clicking on the images to zoom in.
*i know the spacing of the images isnt correct. still waiting for an update for the blog software)

i visited a nearby shrine, kotohira zinjya, a little way into the mountains near my house in onishi. the shrine is only 100 something years old, but walking around behind it into the forest I came across a small graveyard made from simple stones placed there over 300 years ago. the gravestones, uncut and probably taken from the riverbed or a nearby hillside, have an intimate character to them. overgrown with moss they stand upright without obstructing the landscape. they made me think of graveyards back home and how they’re almost like golf courses, a big thumb print that forces itself into whatever environment its built over. obviously someone has keep up maintenance on the area but its nice to know it doesnt require fertilizer, lawnmowers and regularly hacking away at the earth to do so.

i went out again with the camera with the intention taking some interesting macro shots of the neighborhood.   I have a 50 mm macro lens for taking shots of small drawings and sculptures but havent really used it for “creative” photography.  i only had a few minutes to play around with the camera and when i got back i realized that most of the photographs weren’t that great.  so, im just going to post two of them today.

we had a long, cold rainy today.  i spent most of the afternoon painting in the studio even though i promised myself i would be working on writing an artist statement.  i hate that kind of stuff… it always feels like i am lying when i write it.

i was looking to get out of the house so I walked down to the river with my canon g10 to enjoy the few minutes the sun decided to break through the clouds. walking around the neighborhood with my camera looking for something to shoot i realized how many diverse things there are around here.  within a 10 minute walk from my house there is a quarry, recycling plant, a river, a hydroelectric plant and cows.  where i grew up in missouri there were at least two other identical homes and a bunch of grass in that same area…  hopefully i make a habit of these kinds of walks and get a solid group of photographs that capture the area.