May 15th - 16:06

Title: May 15th - 16:06 Medium: Super-8 film Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Resolution: 2880 x 2160 File Type: H.264 Codec / MP4. Comments: A famous and talented Japanese photographer named, Hisa, met us by the river in the morning. We drove to a beautiful zen garden at a temple on the outskirts of Kyoto in a village at the top of a hill. Inside the palace there was a circle window which framed the square room. Half of the circle were trees and the rest moss. Where hues of green gently sweeps across the room through the cream colored sliding paper walls with intricate pink floral patterns. We stayed a while. There was a room to meditate in so we took our shoes off and sat to breathe with a few other visitors who entered the prayer room. We received a call from Kawashima, and planned to meet with him at a small ramen shop close to the bamboo forest. This was the first time Hisa and Kawashima met each other too. We sat, ate noodles, and drank tea before the shoot. We talked about photography and philosophy. Kawashima drew caricatures of Ethan and I, and we the same for him on an ink pad I always brought around. Hisa was showing us his gorgeous street photography and the recent exhibition he had with Apple. He was shaking hands with Tim Cook at the opening. I paid the bill and we left. We walked to the bamboo forest. It was nearly empty and we ran into a friend from the Grailers on the way to find the light. The group made it to the end of the park and we turned back. The sun was starting to hover over the mountain and we had a few minutes left of light. We found a private location in the park deep in the bamboo forest close to a small river. I asked Hisa and Kawashima to stand in the shredded light together. They stood back to back. Faced one another and bowed to honor their presence. A symbol of respect. In this moment, Kawashima screamed Bamboo Boys. and jumped into the air And the name for the group stuck. Kawashima was a playful and funny new friend. He knows how to make people laugh and have fun. He pulled out 2 more green and yellow jackets and gave them to Ethan and I. We threw on the jackets and we jumped and screamed, Bamboo Boys! We were united like a fraternity with our matching moss colored jackets. It was good ol' fun. Once we found our way back to the path to the car. Hisa surprised us with a visit to hidden temple ruins a half hour away. The sun was setting and we were descending into the forest. Climbing down large stone steps to a small lake where we saw large stones with carved figures and bright red wooden gates still standing tall. It felt like we found a secret, to see and appreciate. Then, to leave and forget.