#itoshima

Cam Collins

Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan: Shinto Shrine

Itoshima Sunset

I love looking at how people do things. I observe their craft and care and I jot it down in my mental diary. Everywhere I go, wherever I've lived, I had long walks in which I have taken secret looks through people's windows and gardens, not because I care about their private business, but rather to see how their home looks like, and to witness the little things that, as mundane as they might look, make life "daily". I did this everywhere in the world, however the place I loved it best was Japan. There is a form of beauty in Japan, it's very simple but also not a given: it's as if every object had its own place, its own home. Harmony and simplicity, but also abundant little things, oftentimes hoarding; however, still, it's a form of devotion, and it really feels like there is real love in the way that the Japanese look after these small things, like compositions, as if they poured their souls in it. When I witnessed this with I felt as if I had found a place in the world in which I was understood. In Italy people would label my love of things as "tacky"; in the UK, it would be "whimsical". None of the two though would understand the love and the care behind building these mini worlds.

Via visitjapan.us

White torii standing nobly in this blue landscape. So majestic! 📍: Sakurai Futamigaura, Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan 📸: (unknown)