COVID-19 brought one single positive thing to me and other Salarymen.. our bosses got prove, that things are getting properly done, even if everyone’s working from home. Duh!
I took this opportunity to do 2 months workation on the Island. Armed with swimming trunks, an Orion t-shirt, and my camera I took an LCC to Naha.
I was looking forward to shooting waves and surfers, beach parties, bikini girls, and some tropical urban scenes which I wouldn’t be able to find back in Tokyo.. well.. hard cheese!
During this time of the year, there are hardly any people in the streets anyway, it’s just too hot, but if you add a global pandemic on top of that, it feels like there are no people at all. And at the beaches, everybody is wearing long sleeves and has goggles in the face. So eventually I shot more pictures of colorful fishes, corals, and the beach/ocean itself, than streets and people.. VERY deep Okinawa.
Nevertheless, on second sight of the photo series though, I realized that the very special vibe of this Island actually does come through.
Have a look for yourself, can you feel it?
DEEP OKINAWA
The series DEEP OKINAWA contains a collaboration with fellow photographer Hidehiko Mineta. He published a series of the same title back in 2017. I googled the locations of landmarks and shop names in his captures, went there, and took the same motive from the same distance and angle again in 2021.
After the shoot, I sent the raw material to him and he edited/colorized it, as he did 4 years ago. The result is a time-capsule-like comparison of the development of these places.
More photos of this series on Instagram.