Places:
NIKKO: Nikko Road
The description of this image explains that the road leading up to Nikko, Japan is lined with enormous, and elderly, cryptomerias. The tree tops are just barely touching overhead, creating a sense to foreigners that they are entering secured ground, much like that of the Gothic cathedrals back home. This road was established nearly two centuries before this image was captured, and as a modern viewer, it feels as though the image is not a representation of ages of decay, but instead a depiction of modernization and the established relationship between man and nature. The manificance of this organic passageway leaves it's travelers awestruck by the beauty of the natural world that surrounds them.
People:
Tokyo Beauty
Compared to all of the other images within this unit, I found myself pulled in by this simple scene celebrating female beauty. I suppose in some ways I felt the image was almost too modern in appearance, and that I wouldn't be at all surprised to find a image similar to this in one of my fashion magazines. The geisha's pose and facial expression evoke a sense of serenity and strength, while her body language is extremely soft and feminine. The caption for this image was a quote by Gilbert Watson from Three Rolling Stones in Japan (London, 1904) - part of which stated, "We thought of the long hours before the silver looking-glasses necessary to compose these wonderful complexions, to arrange thee fantastic coiffures, to drape these girlish figures...".
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