I came across two Japanese photo albums with separate English translations of the writings by Jiro Yanase at a used book store while my daughter was at a birthday party. They were interesting and cheap; so I bought them. I figured out he was better known as the man in charge of the large Yanase automotive import company in Japan and liked taking 3 months off every year to travel the world with his camera. A Mr. Takashi Kobayashi at Fuji Color Services saw some of his photos, thought they were "interesting pictures", and asked to publish them. A very interesting quote from the Fuji publisher about his photos is they are "interesting because yours have amateurs' freedom which professionals can't offer." Another interesting quote from the epilogue of Liberal, Whimsical, and Lyric about the style of photos from the publisher is "But I think it's worthwhile to have someone who is after the heart of clouds, the heart of flowers, the heart of trees and the heart of the sky. There should be some who appreciate it." The photos are definitely not run of the mill vacations snapshots, and show a preference for soft focus and backlighting. I like the ideas behind how they chose the pictures, even if they are not the kinds of pictures I usually prefer.
