Category: Oahu

A man, his dolls, and a straw on Waikiki Beach

Last week as I walked the beach in Waikiki I encountered a strange yet compelling subject(s)…  I went for a stroll down Waikiki Beach, camera in hand, and I came across a small floatie anchored in a tide pool roughly in front of the Hyatt.

The raft, which I thought belonged to a child, held several dolls and small toys.  I thought “how cute..a young girl brought her toys out to the beach.” But strangely enough, I see a older Asian male walking towards the raft. He wore a life preserver, a red swim cap with the chin strap pulled tightly under his pudgy neck, a rash guard, and tight swim trunks.

He was sitting with a normal looking older Asian lady wearing a bathing suit and had a cheap green inflatable inner tube around her waist. I overheard her referring to him as Otosan, or father in Japanese.  They sat on towels, had an ice box, and were enjoying the sunny day.  I kept looking for the kids who’s raft I found but I saw no one around.

But a few minutes later, Otosan waded into the water, went for a brief swim then walked over to the raft.  He delicately took each doll out, cupped water into his hands and gently washed the dolls off speaking to each one as he did.  He took great care placing each doll back back and arranged them in a particular seating order.  He then waded back towards the beach speaking to other beach goers as he went.

He sat back in the sand next to the woman, took several large gulps from a large Arizona tea can and then poured tea into a mug with a straw.  I quickly waded back into the water as I what was coming.  He then waded back into the water and made himself towards the raft.

He took each individual doll and gave them all a sip from his straw. He lovingly took each figurine and gave them each a moment to drink from his mug so they might also enjoy themselves on the beach. Otosan was treating each figure as if they were real. I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing as I took picture after picture but I couldn’t turn away.

So after rattling off a few frame, Otosan, who never noticed me, wandered back to his spot, grabbed a tackle box and rod and went fishing off the rocks.  I wasn’t sure what to think of what I shot as it was one of the more weird things I’ve ever encountered.  I guess you could assume anything but this was just a bizarre moment caught on film.

Oddly enough, my wife pointed out the pregnant bather wandering in the background.  I was a bit upset with her in the frame as she threw off my composure but the psychology of her in the back made the image more powerful.

I got bored waiting for him to return from his fishing spot so I wandered  but eventually returned to Otosan’s spot.  I saw him wading back from the rocks and over to the lady he was with and it appeared she told him to change out of his beach clothes and sent him to the bathroom. Sadly my parking meter was almost up and it was taking him forever to return so I had to leave the site leaving the mystery of the dolls to the wind.

I really have nothing more to say about Otosan and this image. I might re-write some of this at some point but I’ll leave it at that.

A note about the film…Kodak’s Ektar 100 held up nicely though I wasn’t very happy how the reds were over saturated in the scan from my Nikon 8000 but I couldn’t seem to control that either in the scanning software or Photoshop. I tried to pull down the saturation in both but all it would do would muddy up the color. I might get a drum scan of this image at some point.  I was shooting with a Leica M6 and a 50mm Leitz F1.4 lens.  The lens coating probably accounted for the over saturation.

2009, a wrap up…

I survived! We survived. We did it and we did it with a mortgage.

I made as a photographer during the 2009 recession!

Things were tough mentally as a bit of income slipped away as certain clients stopped calling and the publishing industry had to readjust its self.

There were some tough moments…waking up in the morning to an empty email inbox and not hearing the phone ring for weeks at a time. But photographer Alex Brandon laid some of the best wisdom I will hear for a long time coming…

“Sometimes you’re the bug, sometimes you’re the windshield.”

Thank you Alex…life can’t be said any better.

Alas, our community lost some staff jobs and some good people this year and even last.

Goodbye Burly and Joaquin. Goodbye Ronen and aloha Lucy. Yet, we had to say hello Tanner several others looking to make a mark in the small money photo world of Hawaii. But we actually are doing much better than much of the photo market around the country. The Washington Times canned their entire photo staff and many staff members. The Advertiser and Star Bulletin had a round of lay offs. Everyone is feeling the pinch. Feels like photo is not the business to be in these days…but people keep snapping away making life much more interesting.

Irregardless…lets take a quick look back at 2009 from my eyes….

(funny, the years slip by but to go back and look at what I shot, its tough…just way too many images! I’ll give it a shot!)

This year I had a pretty tough moment as my father had a heart attack which forced him to go under the knife for a quad bypass. Inside I felt he wasn’t going to kick the bucket but it was tough to think it might be time to say goodbye.

I went down to Texas for a vacation to visit Mom and Dad and spent some time getting to know them, myself, and us a little better. Its best not to forget that time does slip by and its tough to get back to San Antonio being Hawaii is so far away.

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In San Antonio for that vacation, I had time to go through the old pictures and got to know a bit more about my history and family. Got to see family new and old and was taken back by a photo of my Mom’s Dad…as it was taken at a bar. Go figure I’d pick up that trait…

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I got a non related nephew this year from Diane and Doug. Aloha Danny!

Got to shoot a very cute girl in her bikini…

Got to hang out with Gloria…

Busted my eye…

Got to see and old friend…

Got to see one sweat…

Saw a few things on the beach…

Another girl in a bikini…

Conjunto and my peoples…

and finally, Terminal 2 Narita…

There is so much to mention but there is not enough time. Its party time…New Years is around the corner for Hawaii that is…and its time to welcome something new.

The 40-Year-Old Recruit

In late August 07, the Washington Post Magazine commissioned me to shoot a documentary on Clayton Beaver, a 40-year-old Waianae resident who was joining the Army. Last year, the army raised its age limit for new recruits allowing Beaver to join. Hardship and a sense of patriotism drove Beaver to follow this path the military attractively sold. Large bonuses and increased benefits also enticed Beaver, along with many others to consider the path of the military.

I covered the Hawaii side of the story examining Beaver, his background, and his family. Another photographer met Beaver at boot camp and covered his initial training. My documentation found what I describe as “Island hardships.” Whether this term makes sense, I find it descriptive of how live in Hawaii can be so far away from the advertisements in the travel magazines and tourism boards present.

With a very high cost of living including sky rocketing real estate prices, below national average salaries don’t allow for a comfortable living. Affordable housing costs can be found in Hawaii but sadly many of these neighborhoods are plagued with socials ills and bad schools. Hawaii is a trap for many…anchoring many locals here with family, friends, and as Michael Leahy described, aloha.

So many here are trapped by large families, low pay, and sadly, drugs. What most tourist encounter on the beaches of Waikiki and Maui are fantasies that a majority of local people will never afford.

Here is the link to the Honolulu Advertiser from November 23, 2007. The story was syndicated locally and is easily accessed.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Nov/22/ln/hawaii711220356.html

The Advertiser published the powerful story along with my photos. The other photographer could not be reached by publication.

The Washington Post Magazine link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/14/AR2007111401447.html

You have to register to see the original story and images from both myself and photographer Brett Flashnick.

Headline News

I made CNN on 22 September with my well worn Superferry image. I recall the Superferry sailing into port and feeling there was a huge hesitation as local shipping monopoly scheduled a ship to sail at roughly the same time. The superferry had to sit out in the channel for some time…almost foreboding as the Superferry has received so much gruff from the locals not only on Kauai but Maui, and the rest of the state. Seems locals just don’t want change and that suits those in power.

We do seem like a backwater…

as far as the photo goes, it was big surf on the south side of Oahu so all the surfers were out. Kakaako was full of people and this guy just so happen to jump out into the picture.

I must say that I envisioned this photo. There is much to say on thinking forward and projecting the image you are looking to capture. I am learning that a pre focused idea will and does work in most cases. I did see this surfer and boat but just couldn’t get the stars to line up. I was caught off guard as the Superferry sailed quickly into port. I was on the other side of the park and had to book to the other side. Autofocus and foresight got the image in line. A burst on the trusty ol 1D MII and voila!