The Boat Ride – Kurashiki, Japan

This is the second in my mini-series of black and white, film-ish images from Kurashiki. It’s also my favorite photo I shot there. And while the boat and matching straw hats give an old-fashioned look that compliments the environment, I can’t help but chuckle in its goofiness.

I just find those tourists funny, compliantly wearing triangular straw hats, in a remarkably consistent formation. It’s certainly not a theme park in the Disney sense, but the surroundings do offer an escape from the real world. I suppose that’s why I like going to places like this. To partially escape the modern world but to also immerse myself, at least for a short time, in an alternate reality. Whether it be a Jinrikisha Driver or a boat populated by straw hat wearing participants, they all add to the richness beyond the architecture.

I also like the balance of this wide-angle composition, shot as usual with my Olympus PEN-F and Olympus 9-18mm. For its relative complexity and the mix of textures, I think it captures a nice snapshot of an afternoon in Kurashiki.