Contact Minami PicturesThank you for your interest in my work. Let me know if you have any questions, comments or requests. I would enjoy hearing from anyone out there. My new webpage is minamipictures.com An older page is Rafu Work 1998 - 2000 About meI am a photographer living in Gardena. My pictures have appeared in local newspapers including the Gardena Valley News, the Long Beach Press-Telegram and the Los Angeles Times. I worked on the staff of the Rafu Shimpo [Los Angeles Japanese Daily News] for three years ending January 2000.
Current ProjectsI am now trying to complete a book project on Japanese poetry from the Santa Fe World War II Internment Camp. I aim to publish reproductions of a manuscript given to my great grandfather in February 1944 by fellow internees in Santa Fe. The poetry is written in old style Japanese and is one of the few surviving documents from that era. It is important because the issei generation rarely spoke about their experience as prisoners. I will upload documents and interviews some time in the future. If you want me to email you when that happens, send me a note. Technical InfoMost of the New Mexico pictures were shot with a 4x5 field camera with an almost wide open aperture. It is difficult to tell on the monitor, but the plane of focus is carefully placed over the landscape using the camera movements. The result is a picture that has been selectively focused; it looks sharp but an acute observer would notice that most of the image is not in focus. The other pictures on this site were shot with old nikons. I use a nikon f and two f2's with 24mm, 50mm, 135mm and 400mm lenses. They are all nikkor ais lenses except the 135, an old nikkor q. The Hermosa Beach photo was shot with this lens. I also use electronic flash. The "Three Rivers" image was partially illuminated with a flash.
Photographic philosophyCameras are used as weapons, shields, paintbrushes and megaphones. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from everyone else. And above all, never quit.
Thanks for visiting!
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