A great seminar if you are interested in mixedness, whatever mixture!
Thinking About Mixedness and Mixing: International and Interdisciplinary Dialogue Seminar 3: EVERYDAY EXPERIENCES AND SOCIAL DIVISIONS
ESRC Seminar Series
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/families/mixedness
Seminar 3 is a day event focusing on ‘Everyday Experiences and Social Divisions’.
It will be held on Friday, 18 September 2009 at Keyworth Centre, London South Bank University.
Speakers:
Bogusia Temple (University of Central Lancashire)
‘There will always be a part of my personality that they will never understand’: living and working across language difference
Mateja Sedmak (University of Primorska, Slovenia)
When did ethnicity become an important family issue in Slovenia?
Miri Song and Peter Aspinall (University of Kent)
How is mixedness understood and experienced in everyday life?
Suki Ali (London School of Economics)
Mixed race politics
Chair:
Martina Klett-Davies (Family and Parenting Institute)
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Herbie Yamaguchi
Posted by Marcia
I went to a photography exhibition in Kawasaki City Museum, just a few minutes away from home today. The visit was completely unplanned. This morning I went to the local library to get some old books from the 50s that talk about mixed Japanese people. On the way out I saw a poster on this portrait exhibition by a photographer called Herbie Yamaguchi. The name caught my attention because at first I thought “could this photographer be Hafu?”. Although as it turns out, Herbie was a nickname given to him when he lived in London many years ago.
So, as the exhibition was taking place only 20 minutes away from home on foot I decided to make a visit. Coincidentally as soon as I arrived at the Museum I learned that there was going to be a talk by Herbie himself in 10 minutes time. This must be fate….. Off I went, to see his work briefly before listening into what Herbie had to say.
What marked my mind was his subtle message. He talked how he was ill when he was young (elementary up to high school period) and he used to get bullied. He described how he saw the “kitanai” from a young age. He never felt confident.
But one day he encountered a school friend being very kind to him – he saw something very special through her eyes. He goes on to explain, perhaps he could see something extraordinary in her eyes precisely because of his bullying experience at a young age. He says if he was a popular handsome boy he would have never noticed in the beauty she possessed. Now I understand, Herbie’s work captures the kindness, the beauty, the thoughtfulness of humankind.
Herbie started photography when he was in the 2nd year of Junior High School. When he was 23 years old he moved to London, where he says he learned how to love himself. There was no need to be anybody else. His friends recognized his beauty. He could be himself, be confident and happy.
Since he saw plenty of the ugly side of human being, his wish was to portray the niceness of people. His gentle approach can be seen in all his photographs. Whilst his photographs are wonderfully composed, his soft touch allows the viewer to get absorbed, as if under the influence of “kindness”.
http://www.kawasaki-museum.jp/display/exhibition/exhibition_de.php?id=66
I went to a photography exhibition in Kawasaki City Museum, just a few minutes away from home today. The visit was completely unplanned. This morning I went to the local library to get some old books from the 50s that talk about mixed Japanese people. On the way out I saw a poster on this portrait exhibition by a photographer called Herbie Yamaguchi. The name caught my attention because at first I thought “could this photographer be Hafu?”. Although as it turns out, Herbie was a nickname given to him when he lived in London many years ago.
So, as the exhibition was taking place only 20 minutes away from home on foot I decided to make a visit. Coincidentally as soon as I arrived at the Museum I learned that there was going to be a talk by Herbie himself in 10 minutes time. This must be fate….. Off I went, to see his work briefly before listening into what Herbie had to say.
What marked my mind was his subtle message. He talked how he was ill when he was young (elementary up to high school period) and he used to get bullied. He described how he saw the “kitanai” from a young age. He never felt confident.
But one day he encountered a school friend being very kind to him – he saw something very special through her eyes. He goes on to explain, perhaps he could see something extraordinary in her eyes precisely because of his bullying experience at a young age. He says if he was a popular handsome boy he would have never noticed in the beauty she possessed. Now I understand, Herbie’s work captures the kindness, the beauty, the thoughtfulness of humankind.
Herbie started photography when he was in the 2nd year of Junior High School. When he was 23 years old he moved to London, where he says he learned how to love himself. There was no need to be anybody else. His friends recognized his beauty. He could be himself, be confident and happy.
Since he saw plenty of the ugly side of human being, his wish was to portray the niceness of people. His gentle approach can be seen in all his photographs. Whilst his photographs are wonderfully composed, his soft touch allows the viewer to get absorbed, as if under the influence of “kindness”.
http://www.kawasaki-museum.jp/display/exhibition/exhibition_de.php?id=66
Friday, 3 July 2009
The dying flowers - by Noriko Takaoka
Posted by Marcia
Today I’d like to write a little bit about our stay with Norika Takaoka a wonderful photographer based in Osaka, Japan. We were delighted to hear that we were going to stay with Noriko, a professional photographer. The purpose of our stay in Osaka was to photograph a number of people for our Hafu Japanese project. I think this is the perfect opportunity to introduce Noriko’s photography work.
Excerpt of Natalie’s words on Noriko’s project 『枯れて行くお花』ＬＩＦＥシリーズ
“Noriko beautifully and poetically captures the gentle process of dying. (...) The beautifully composed shots of delicate flowers offer us a sense of real appreciation for the short lives we live. (…) Her observation of the beauty, colorfulness and strength of these flowers make the viewer feel very reflective about something we make so much for granted.”
More information here:
http://www.node.ne.jp/i_interview0702.html
Today I’d like to write a little bit about our stay with Norika Takaoka a wonderful photographer based in Osaka, Japan. We were delighted to hear that we were going to stay with Noriko, a professional photographer. The purpose of our stay in Osaka was to photograph a number of people for our Hafu Japanese project. I think this is the perfect opportunity to introduce Noriko’s photography work.
Excerpt of Natalie’s words on Noriko’s project 『枯れて行くお花』ＬＩＦＥシリーズ
“Noriko beautifully and poetically captures the gentle process of dying. (...) The beautifully composed shots of delicate flowers offer us a sense of real appreciation for the short lives we live. (…) Her observation of the beauty, colorfulness and strength of these flowers make the viewer feel very reflective about something we make so much for granted.”
More information here:
http://www.node.ne.jp/i_interview0702.html
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
a BIG thank you
Posted by Marcia
Our photo shoot events in Tokyo and Osaka have completed succesfully! A big big thank you to Hiroshi & Britt, who offered us their valuable studio space in Kokubunji (http://www.theglasshouse.info), Noriko for offering us wonderful shelter in Osaka, Mr.Fukuzawa at Mamiya for providing us with camera equipment, and Nobue at ANA who offered us discounted flight tickets to Japan.
In the past two weeks we also delivered three talks/workshop. We would like to thank Yoshie at Santa Maria International School (Tokyo), Dr Chris Burgess at Tsuda College (Tokyo) and Dr James Farrer at Sophia University (Tokyo) for offering us the valuable opportunity to talk about our project.
----Overall we took nearly 100 photographs of Hafus and all our interviews in Osaka have completed too. Natalie is back in London and I will be in Tokyo for a while to interview more people.-----
Our photo shoot events in Tokyo and Osaka have completed succesfully! A big big thank you to Hiroshi & Britt, who offered us their valuable studio space in Kokubunji (http://www.theglasshouse.info), Noriko for offering us wonderful shelter in Osaka, Mr.Fukuzawa at Mamiya for providing us with camera equipment, and Nobue at ANA who offered us discounted flight tickets to Japan.
In the past two weeks we also delivered three talks/workshop. We would like to thank Yoshie at Santa Maria International School (Tokyo), Dr Chris Burgess at Tsuda College (Tokyo) and Dr James Farrer at Sophia University (Tokyo) for offering us the valuable opportunity to talk about our project.
----Overall we took nearly 100 photographs of Hafus and all our interviews in Osaka have completed too. Natalie is back in London and I will be in Tokyo for a while to interview more people.-----
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Photo shoot update
Posted by Marcia
The weekend photoshoot ended on an excellent note with over 50 people participating. Our special thanks goes to Mamiya who offered us their wonderful camera equipment, Hiroshi and Britt for providing us their excellent studio space and time, as well as all the participants who have happily travelled to Kokubunji. It was lovely meeting you all. Thank you.
The weekend photoshoot ended on an excellent note with over 50 people participating. Our special thanks goes to Mamiya who offered us their wonderful camera equipment, Hiroshi and Britt for providing us their excellent studio space and time, as well as all the participants who have happily travelled to Kokubunji. It was lovely meeting you all. Thank you.
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Japan - Tokyo/Osaka
We are pleasd to announce that we have had over 80 people sign up for our photo shoot events in Japan so far. With two photo shoots this weekend in Tokyo and another two next week in Tokyo and Osaka, we are very much looking forward to meeting all the different Half Japanese people who are due to participate. We have the following slots available at the moment:
Tokyo, 21 June (Sun) 2:15pm
Tokyo, 24 June (Wed) 6:45pm and 7pm
Osaka, 28 June (Sun) 1:15pm and 13:45pm
The shoot will take 15 mins. For details please visit:
http://www.hafujapanese.org/getinvolved.html
Tokyo, 21 June (Sun) 2:15pm
Tokyo, 24 June (Wed) 6:45pm and 7pm
Osaka, 28 June (Sun) 1:15pm and 13:45pm
The shoot will take 15 mins. For details please visit:
http://www.hafujapanese.org/getinvolved.html
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
'Hafu' Photo Shoot & BBQ in London
Posted by Marcia
We are proud to say, last Sunday we had about 25 half Japanese people take part in our photo shoot. The weather was so tempting that we had to have a bbq lunch too.
We are very excited to see how quickly words travel: a friend of a work colleague's sister, a friend of a friend of a friend, or the daughter of a friend, etc - the route varies but we were all there for one reason - to be part of the project. It was lovely to meet some of the parents accompanying our participants too. There was a kind of a family feeling to the whole atmosphere, it didn't feel like I had never met any of them.
We are planning another Hafu shoot in London when we come back from Japan, possibly in August. Those of you who live in Japan or know anybody who may be interested in taking part, please check out details of the photo shoot events in Tokyo and Osaka:
http://www.hafujapanese.org/getinvolved.html (English)
http://www.hafujapanese.org/getinvolvedjp.html (Japanese)
.
We are proud to say, last Sunday we had about 25 half Japanese people take part in our photo shoot. The weather was so tempting that we had to have a bbq lunch too.
We are very excited to see how quickly words travel: a friend of a work colleague's sister, a friend of a friend of a friend, or the daughter of a friend, etc - the route varies but we were all there for one reason - to be part of the project. It was lovely to meet some of the parents accompanying our participants too. There was a kind of a family feeling to the whole atmosphere, it didn't feel like I had never met any of them.
We are planning another Hafu shoot in London when we come back from Japan, possibly in August. Those of you who live in Japan or know anybody who may be interested in taking part, please check out details of the photo shoot events in Tokyo and Osaka:
http://www.hafujapanese.org/getinvolved.html (English)
http://www.hafujapanese.org/getinvolvedjp.html (Japanese)
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