This is what Japanese people see!

firecracker

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I was browsing Fuji's website and found this:

http://photo-is.jp/2006/100sen/index.html

The images there are the results from the photo contest called "Photo Is" last year run by Fuji, which is apparently just like any other amateur photo contest, I guess. But I was blown away by the quality of many of the images there. I really like the one that has two (or three) boys shooting into the toliets. In the western standard today this kind of image is probably a big no-no, but it's so candid and just reminds me what good snap shots are really about in a way.

Also, the image of tuna fishing is quite good!
 

reellis67

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Neat stuff. Our cultures are similar in many ways, yet very different in others. Many of the images looked like what I've seen here in the States, while others were very refreshing. I wonder how many seconds it would take you to get arrested here for taking that bathroom shot of the two boys taking a whiz? I'm guessing single digits.

- Randy
 
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firecracker

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reellis67 said:
I wonder how many seconds it would take you to get arrested here for taking that bathroom shot of the two boys taking a whiz? I'm guessing single digits.

- Randy
Click to expand...

Exactly. I mean, we (like you and I) wouldn't even think about taking such a photo and submitting it to a photo contest. I'm not bashing the photographer since it's a neat image and it should be acceptable, but I'm just trying to make a point that that we are sometimes too politicized to see it straight.

But Fuji(Fuji Film) published it anyway, and I guess it's okay. According to the contest rules, all the photos on the website were selected by professional photographers, so that is their take, too. What a strange place this is.
 

Photo Engineer

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I refer you to the book "Show Me" and others like it published in the 70s to teach sex to children. They were filled with photos like that and were recommended by many Christian groups and churches at the time.

PE
 
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firecracker

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Photo Engineer said:
I refer you to the book "Show Me" and others like it published in the 70s to teach sex to children. They were filled with photos like that and were recommended by many Christian groups and churches at the time.

PE
Click to expand...

Right. I wasn't even trying to get into that sort of thing, though.

The bathroom photo was perhaps taken by a kindergarten teacher or a parent beause its caption says something like, "Can you do it all by yourself?" And that clearly shows what it was meant for, which is to keep the record of the growth of children and celebrate them. We use cameras to do that, and we create photo albums.

Life is good and beautiful, you know, but I guess I sometimes tend to forget why I started taking pictures in the first place. So, this particular photo was a good reminder for me.
 
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firecracker

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Japanese society is pretty "lawyered up" today also. I mean if you walk around with your camera and try to take pictures of young kids who are not related to you, you will have some difficulties like you do in North America.
 
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