Comments on: Photos of Japan, 1951 http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/ The Japan History Group Blog Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:45:05 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: DKiernan http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/comment-page-1/#comment-263497 DKiernan Tue, 05 Jul 2011 00:33:43 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/#comment-263497 The last few comments -- from crash, mike, and paula -- got it right. People who want to be intellectuals usually think that dragging in all their reading and education is the way to see and explain what a picture is, when actually they're just missing the whole point. I'm an artist. I know exactly what my pictures are and mean and can show the viewer. They would be described as "traditional school" but every one actually shows something no one has ever seen before. I also know that 99% of the people, including the academicians, who look at them wont see something new but will see something else that they already know and feel comfortable with. Young people apparently think that they have accumulated more knowledge and experience to add to what previous generations knew. In fact, they have lost as much as they have gained and will never know what it was like before they came along. (For instance, you will never know what life in Greenwich Village was like in 1960 unless you were there. The place doesnt exist anymore. Like Troy, it has been buried and a new Greenwich Village built on top of it.) The only way they can possibly get a taste of it is thru things like pictures and writing and architecture, but seeing it thru mental filters wont show you anything. The last few comments — from crash, mike, and paula — got it right. People who want to be intellectuals usually think that dragging in all their reading and education is the way to see and explain what a picture is, when actually they’re just missing the whole point. I’m an artist. I know exactly what my pictures are and mean and can show the viewer. They would be described as “traditional school” but every one actually shows something no one has ever seen before. I also know that 99% of the people, including the academicians, who look at them wont see something new but will see something else that they already know and feel comfortable with.
Young people apparently think that they have accumulated more knowledge and experience to add to what previous generations knew. In fact, they have lost as much as they have gained and will never know what it was like before they came along. (For instance, you will never know what life in Greenwich Village was like in 1960 unless you were there. The place doesnt exist anymore. Like Troy, it has been buried and a new Greenwich Village built on top of it.) The only way they can possibly get a taste of it is thru things like pictures and writing and architecture, but seeing it thru mental filters wont show you anything.

]]> By: Paula http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/comment-page-1/#comment-227495 Paula Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:10:24 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/#comment-227495 I hope, Mike didn't burn those photographs! I agree with his opinion. I'm an ex-dissident from Europe, living in the US. Anybody who has traveled outside of their home city takes photos of people and situations so vastly different from their own culture, as a memento. It has been in the past, and it is in the present. In the case of the photos,- especially the last,- comments are the reflection on the writer, not on the pictures. I hope, Mike didn’t burn those photographs! I agree with his opinion.
I’m an ex-dissident from Europe, living in the US.
Anybody who has traveled outside of their home city takes photos of people and situations so vastly different from their own culture, as a memento. It has been in the past, and it is in the present.
In the case of the photos,- especially the last,- comments are the reflection on the writer, not on the pictures.

]]> By: mike http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/comment-page-1/#comment-172462 mike Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:27:46 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/#comment-172462 Hi There Regarding the last photo? And your comment: “Jap Pearl Diver (Fresh out of the water) 1951,” and positively glows with the unequal sexual politics of the Occupation era. The usual binaries seem to be present here: the male, conquering West; the female, passive East; and the dry, clean professional man and the wet, sexually alluring woman. Sometimes a photo is just what it is. A young american posing with a woman doing an unusual job, in a far off place. Doing something the folks at home would never beleive. I have a few similar photos, they are what they are nothing more. Maybe I should burn them so the next generations won't use them to make a political statement. Hi There

Regarding the last photo? And your comment: “Jap Pearl Diver (Fresh out of the water) 1951,” and positively glows with the unequal sexual politics of the Occupation era. The usual binaries seem to be present here: the male, conquering West; the female, passive East; and the dry, clean professional man and the wet, sexually alluring woman.

Sometimes a photo is just what it is. A young american posing with a woman doing an unusual job, in a far off place. Doing something the folks at home would never beleive. I have a few similar photos, they are what they are nothing more. Maybe I should burn them so the next generations won’t use them to make a political statement.

]]> By: Morgan Pitelka http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/comment-page-1/#comment-92268 Morgan Pitelka Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:00:42 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/#comment-92268 OK - reading too much is a charge I can live with. But I think it is worth noting that 1) Calling the structural relationship between Japanese women and American soldiers during the American Occupation unequal is not really particularly controversial. Of course power relations between individuals are more complicated; I'm just commenting on what I saw when I looked at the photo. Also, water is an old metaphor for sex in Japan, which is part of what has made the pearl divers sexual objects in many historical contexts. 2) I didn't call the children in the photograph "beggars" as you imply. As I clearly explained in the explanatory text, the photographer (an American soldier) labeled the photo "Beggars chased by M.P.s" - so the term was not a result of me seeing what I want, but of the language used by the producer of these images. Cheers. OK – reading too much is a charge I can live with. But I think it is worth noting that 1) Calling the structural relationship between Japanese women and American soldiers during the American Occupation unequal is not really particularly controversial. Of course power relations between individuals are more complicated; I’m just commenting on what I saw when I looked at the photo. Also, water is an old metaphor for sex in Japan, which is part of what has made the pearl divers sexual objects in many historical contexts.
2) I didn’t call the children in the photograph “beggars” as you imply. As I clearly explained in the explanatory text, the photographer (an American soldier) labeled the photo “Beggars chased by M.P.s” – so the term was not a result of me seeing what I want, but of the language used by the producer of these images. Cheers.

]]> By: Crash http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/comment-page-1/#comment-92246 Crash Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:39:17 +0000 http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2006/12/photos-of-japan-1951/#comment-92246 Nice photos, but are we reading a bit too much into them? "The usual binaries seem to be present here: the male, conquering West; the female, passive East; and the dry, clean professional man and the wet, sexually alluring woman." Really? How about we try to think about what was in the heads of the actual participants. Westerners sees aspect of Japanese culture for the first time, decides to take a photo. And the beggars picture...well, only two people are "running" and those are the children. If I was a poor youngster constantly seeing well-heeled foriegners walking around my neighborhood--who probably enjoy the attentions of the children...well, I might look for a quick handout. Children at that age do not have the same concept of pride that adults do. If they see a chance to get something free, they probably just asked...hence, the term beggars, and maybe someone got tired of it and "chased them" into the frame of this shot. Look long enough and you'll see whatever you want. Nice photos, but are we reading a bit too much into them? “The usual binaries seem to be present here: the male, conquering West; the female, passive East; and the dry, clean professional man and the wet, sexually alluring woman.” Really? How about we try to think about what was in the heads of the actual participants. Westerners sees aspect of Japanese culture for the first time, decides to take a photo. And the beggars picture…well, only two people are “running” and those are the children. If I was a poor youngster constantly seeing well-heeled foriegners walking around my neighborhood–who probably enjoy the attentions of the children…well, I might look for a quick handout. Children at that age do not have the same concept of pride that adults do. If they see a chance to get something free, they probably just asked…hence, the term beggars, and maybe someone got tired of it and “chased them” into the frame of this shot. Look long enough and you’ll see whatever you want.

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