Today, 11 Sept 2009, the first article that James and I worked on together will be published in ‘The Australian’ newspaper. If you are in Australia you can look in the special Japanese travel section to read our article about the beautiful Hanami Season that we were fortunate to experience during our first week in Japan, back in April. You can read the online version of the article (written by James) here. Read More
Our Niijima article that was printed in the July issue of Outdoor Japan magazine is now up online. You can take a look at The Outdoor Japan Website. Read More
Here are some behind-the-scenes shots from the kimono shoot I did on Sunday. Naomi, the stylist is a professional kimono dresser in Tokyo. I now understand why you need a license to dress kimonos – the number of layers required, and the skill involved in all the folding and tying is phenomenal. Shoko did a great job assisting Naomi (and me) and Hideyuki did a wonderful job on Aya’s hair and make up. The first theme was sporty, and the styling included wired shoelaces in Aya’s hair and Nike high top sneakers. The second merged Chinese and Japanese traditional styles to create a uniquely classic look. With two sets of make up, hair and kimono, it was a long day but we all had a lot of fun and I’m really happy with the photos we finished with. (Wherever you are in Tokyo, there are always onlookers) Read More
During our second week in Japan, James and I took a short trip to an amazingly beautiful island not far from Tokyo. Niijima Island was like a dream – clear waters with empty waves, quaint village streets and the most wonderful outdoor onsen (natural, hot water spring) which overlooked the waves crashing below. We were so inspired that we decided it was the perfect subject to do our first collaboration together – I took the photos and James wrote the article. We submitted it to Outdoor Japan magazine and we ended up getting an 8 page spread, and the front cover. It’s a nice start to our journalistic adventures. Outdoor Japan Magazine website Read More
Last Sunday I was sipping on a $25 cup of herbal tea at one of Tokyo’s finest hotels, as I waited for my models and stylist to arrive for a swimwear shoot. Within less than 24 hours, I had headed down the coast to a farming town and found myself up to my shins in mud in a rice field, as I began my first WWOOFing experience on an organic/natural farm. Traveling provides me with opportunities to be completely diverse, random and extreme, and I can follow a path to wherever my life takes me. Of course I could be living like this at home as well, but for some reason I feel freer when I’m on the road. And that is one of the reasons why I plan to spend the next 2-3 years exploring the world. Pic: This is Nao, one of my farming friends. Technical: I shot this with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, at f/2.8 @ 1/100sec. I chose the wide aperture to blur the edge of her hat, and the background. In post production in Adobe Bridge, I used a split toning effect to give the image a slightly old fashioned, yellow tone. I used […] Read More
Yesterday I had an amazing day in Tokyo, meeting a whole lot of interesting young people. They have a lot to say to the world, and they choose to do say it through the way they dress. Many of the teenagers here spend six days a week at school, after school club sports and study classes. Sunday is their only day off and they choose to express their individuality through extreme dress. A lot of the costumes are based on anime characters. Animation is unbelievably popular in Japan, amongst children, teenagers and adults. Kids in Harajuku, Tokyo ‘become’ their characters once a week, and hang around other people doing the same – From cute dolls with pink hair, to gothic-like characters covered in piercings. Anything goes! -Alicia Read More
James and I were looking for inspiration for our next article submission, so we jumped on the local train and headed down the coast to Onjuka. We walked from the quite train station, past streets of deserted houses in overgrown yards, to a beach of half white and half black sand. The coastal holiday town was deserted on this windy Sunday afternoon, all except for a few keen surfers who took their longboards out on the completely flat ocean (and I’m not exaggerating. We watched the ocean for about half and hour and not a single ripple came through). Thankfully, we were more successful on our mission than the local surfers, and the change of scenery gave us inspiration for a great photo article….I’ll tell you all about it once it’s been published. Read More
Here are some photos of around where I live, in Ichinomya in Chiba, Japan… I got up at 4:30am to get some sunrise shots on the beach. It was Sunday, and even at sunrise the beach is crowded with surfers – many from Tokyo on their weekend break – quite possibly their one day off each week. Technical: I exposed for the background of this image to silhouette the figures against the back light. By setting the white balance to flash, I enhanced the colour temperature to an even warmer tone than the true early morning light. Black, volcanic sand with tetrapods protecting the land from typhoon swells and tsunamis. People leave their surfboards, bikes and shoes lying around, because nobody steals things in Japan. I love the morning sunlight on this boat. Technical: The hazy atmosphere diffused the sun to soften the warm early-morning sunlight. I shot at a fairly wide-angle to distort the shape of the boat and enhance the surreal feeling of the image. A few of our neighbours, with rice paddies in the foreground. Japanese people tend to have different taste in housing colours, to what I’m used to back in Australia. Pink is a bit […] Read More
Hi and welcome to my first blog entry. I am Alicia Fox and I’m a Professional Photographer from Melbourne, living in Japan. I live in a little coastal town called Ichinomya – the epicentre of Japanese surfing culture. Everyday I am surrounded by beaches and farmland, with Tokyo city only 1 hour away. It is the perfect balance of work, fun and inspiration. I moved my life to Japan for a cultural shock. I am inspired by extremes and new cultures. So far I have found Japanese people to be the most polite and generous that I have come across. Everyday things like vending machines on nearly every corner, and heated toilet seats are uniquely Japanese and still make me smile every time I come across them. Cartoon porn magazines and Maid Cafes are something that would probably never take off anywhere else in the world, but are just some of the things that make Japan so unique and exciting. I am currently working on a range of projects including my first solo photo book, photographic submissions for Australian and international magazines/newspapers, and stock photos for Alamy (U.K) and Gekko Images (Australia). On top of this, I am about to […] Read More
