100 years spans my 2007 photographs and those of T-Enami – Clearly he was the Artist!
I recently discovered a quirky website dedicated to the hand-colored photographs of T-Enami, a prolific Japanese photographer who lived during the Meiji Period of Japan (when Japanese society moved from being an isolated feudalism to its modern form). One can get lost in this website, and it is highly recommended not only for it historic images but comical commentary.
It was mostly overcast the day we had visited Miyajima Island, and I only had my inferior Minolta Dimage digital camera, so there are thousands of photos the Torii of Itsukushima of better quality. The point is we were there, and so was T-Enami – 100 years before us.
Most of Nagoya Castle was burned down during the US bombing of the city in 1945. So my photo, to the left, shows the recreated castle and a new structure as well (it likely existed before the T-Enami photo as construction of the castle began in January of 1610). The stones in the foreground are from the original structure and were left as found after the bombing – likely as a remembrance of the tragic event.
And my photo of Torii is from land, whereas his is from the water. Regardless, it is hard to distinguish the 100 year span of the photographs. This tiny revelation will really help me to appreciate historical sites anywhere I happen to see them in the future. Now if only we could talk to the ghosts that live among them!
No, I am not in Japan, but still in Mexico. I must get a bit more adventurous and visit more of historical Mexico, as I leave to return home in May. Also with this new WordPress upgrade, I feel motivated to recreate all my lost blog posts and the photo galleries from Japan, Korea and Italy.
