This year, I started to work with another photographer (his name is Kentaro) as a unit. The unit is called as "Number10." We are based in Tokyo, and we opened our studio in this spring!
Please take a look at our portfolio website http://num10.com

Life flows. It has been almost 2 years since I left the States. I am not sure where this collaboration will take me to, however, I am ready to go toward any directions my life will be driven.

Many things (including the earthquake) happened in the last 2 years. Later, I will report some of them. To summarize, my life's good in here ; )

今年から、ユニットとしての活動を始めました。Number10(ナンバーテン)という名前で、もう一人のフォトグラファー(Kentaro)と仕事をしています。http://num10.com

この春にはスタジオもオープンしました。アメリカを出てから二年、この度の地震も含めて色々な事がありました。今は、流れに身を任せて、前に前に進んで行こうと思います。

自分の事って良く分かりませんが、きっと、素敵な人生を過ごしていると思います。

Hiro

//"10*SHIRTS" – White T-shirts Connect the World//

So, this is one of the projects I wrote about before. Details are on the project's website, but I'd like to explain here, too.

My friend and I sent out white 10 t-shirts to our friends around the world. We sent to the US, UK, Brazil, Sweden, Taiwan, and Japan. We asked our friends to customize the shirts in whatever the ways they like. We also asked them to pass the t-shirts to their own friends when they are done with customizing. We will repeat this for 10 times until each t-shirt gets customized for 10 times.

When each shirt is customized for 10 times, it means we have 100 artists join this project. 10 design by 100 artists… Sounds fun, isn't it??

We are not sure what we are doing this for, but when we thought of this plan, it just sounded SO FUN. Then immediately, we decided to do this. The website is designed by Takuro Yoshida. And I am updating the blog almost everyday.

We have many artists joining this project. We would like to introduce as many of them as we can.

Yuta Sakane is a craft / visual artist residing in Tokyo, Japan. His art education took place in Germany, the US, and Sweden. He has won numerous awards.
http://10-shirts.com/blog/news/161.html

Daisuke Mishima is residing in Osaka, Japan, who is an emerging graphic artist, also active as a Japanese Calligrapher, photographer, and DJ.
http://10-shirts.com/blog/news/215.html

Another artist joining this project is Sven Joel Nordvall. He is with the t-shirt in Sweden.
http://10-shirts.com/blog/news/195.html

Also we recently updated our "About Us" page. Please check it out!

Fllow us on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/pages/10shirts-Project/149275621751597?ref=sgm

Hiro

I have kicked off a photography production by photographers in Tokyo,
It is called TokyoPhotoJapan and its website is finally up! http://www.tokyophotojapan.com
The website is still under-construction but we already got good offers from photographers who have plans to shoot in Japan.

We shoot for:
Assignment / Editorial / Corporate / Personal

And we support your shooting by:
Location Scouts / Renting Gears / Supplying Assistants / Digital Operators / Supplying Local Models

We are waiting for you to contact us!

Hiro

It's been a while since the last posting. I have experienced many different jobs in this city.
Not just only in the photo industry, but also other industries. Real estate, E-commerce, art, and some others.

After going through all of them, I guess I started to see the kind of work environment I wanna create when I kick off my own photo studio in the future.

But well, I still have not stopped to experience things outside of the photo industry.
In this summer, a good friend of mine and I started to work on something really interesting (and fun!).
"10*SHIRTS" –> http://10-shirts.com

Plus, I am in the preparation of kicking off other projects.

I am so looking forward to reporting all those shortly!

Hiro

As one of Centenary family, this news I heard today was somewhat fulfilling. I only went to Centenary College for a year before transfering to the City College of New York. But to me, that year was very first year I experienced the U.S. and I'm still thinking Centenary and Hackettstown as one of my hometowns. Congratulations to class of 2010!
 
 
 
そうかぁ。アメリカは卒業式の時期なんですね。自分の卒業式を思い出しました。
 
アメリカに行って最初の一年を過ごしたセンテナリー大学がmixiニュースになっててびっくりしました。
ニューヨークからバスで二時間。あんなニュージャージーの奥地の小さな学校が、まさか日本語のメディアで取り上げられていて、ほんとにびっくり。
それも卒業式でのサプライズなプロポーズなんて、ほんとにハッピーなニュースです。
 
 
センテナリーではアメリカに移った最初の年の夏から、次の夏までの一年を過ごしました。
時間が止まったような小さな町の、これまた時間が止まったような小さな大学の寮に住み、ひたすら勉強した事を覚えています。

英語が今よりとても下手だったあの時(今でも上手とは言えませんが)。
早く授業が分かりたくて、早くルームメイトの言ってることが分かりたくて、早くアメリカが分かりたくて。

必死に、たった一年だけ必死に、人生で一番勉強しました。

動画の二人には及びませんが、結果センテナリーにいた時だけはGPAも3.98くらいあった気がします。
(ちなみに、その後ニューヨークに移ってからはお恥ずかしくて人には言えないGPAに落ちました。。)
高校の時の僕からは信じられません。やれば結果が返ってくる。アメリカはそういう国でした。

ニューヨークに移ってからも、センテナリーには何度も機会を見つけてはのんびりしに帰った、思い出の場所です。
 
卒業式でプロポーズなんて、ほんとにステキ。それを実行した彼女の勇気と行動力に拍手です！

Hiro
　
　
元のニュース：
http://news.mixi.jp/view_news.pl?media_id=84&id=1213385
http://www.narinari.com/Nd/20100513571.html
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100515/UPDATES01/100515019/-Will-you-marry-me?–Centenary-valedictorian-asks-boyfriend
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/17/earlyshow/main6491389.shtml
 
その後、CBSのニュース番組に登場した二人：

ようやく前回までの投稿で、以前アップしていた記事をほぼ全て回復しました。
同時にサイトの細かいデザインも変えて、再出発です。

面舵一杯、人生の大きな方向転換を迎えました。

住み慣れたアメリカを離れて、日本に昨年帰ってきました。
それからと言うもの、運転免許を取ったり、銀行口座を開いたり、住む場所を決めたり・・・。
日本で暮らす色んな準備を一気にしていました。

気付けば三月。今、東京に住んでいます。

東京に住んで一ヶ月が経ちました。
まだまだ毎日カウンターカルチャーショックに遭遇します。良い意味でも、悪い意味でも。
色んな意味で、ここは自分の生まれ育った国、ニッポンなのだと気付かされることが多い毎日です。

渡米してから、それとは無しに気をつけていることがありました。それは、

「アメリカ人にならないこと」　「日本人にならないこと」

アメリカと日本、どちらの良さもあります。そのどちらにも傾き過ぎないように。
自分で一つ一つ、それぞれのカルチャーの良し悪しや好き嫌いを判断して、選んで身につけるように。
ニューヨーカーでも、秋田県人でも、日本人でもない、「自分」であるように。

そんな自分がこれから日本で通用していくのかどうか。

そんなわけで、新しい旅のスタートです。

Now, I'm in Tokyo.

I started to prepare to leave the city in the end of last summer.
Since then, I was busy to say goodbye to everyone I know in the city and to start my new life in Japan.
Getting a driver's license, opening a bank account, finding a place to stay… after going through all these, now I settled in Tokyo.

It wasn't very easy to leave the city. I had friends, mentors, people I respect, and, people I love.
But I left anyway. I left to get something I have been missing.
To know my own country and try myself in its photo industry. It's something that has been long-overdue.

And now, here I come, Tokyo.

My brand-new journey has just started.

Hiro

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
HONORABLE MENTION WINNER OF PX3, Prix de la Photographie Paris Hiro Kobayashi of United States was Awarded in the PX3 2009 Competition. Paris, France Prix de la Photographie Paris (Px3) announces winners of PX3 2009 competition.

Hiro Kobayashi of United States was Awarded in category for the entry entitled, " Acceleration ." The jury selected winners from thousands of photography entries from over 85 countries.

Px3 is juried by top international decision-makers in the photography industry: Carol Johnson, Curator of Photography of Library of Congress, Washington D.C.; Gilles Raynaldy, Director of Purpose, Paris; Viviene Esders, Expert près la Cour d'Appel de Paris; Mark Heflin, Director of American Illustration + American Photography, New York; Sara Rumens, Lifestyle Photo Editor of Grazia Magazine, London; Françoise Paviot, Director of Galerie Françoise Paviot, Paris; Chrisitine Ollier, Art Director of Filles du Calvaire, Paris; Natalie Johnson, Features Editor of Digital Photographer Magazine, London; Natalie Belayche, Director of Visual Delight, Paris; Kenan Aktulun, VP/Creative Director of Digitas, New York; Chiara Mariani, Photo Editor of Corriere della Sera Magazine, Italy; Arnaud Adida, Director of Acte 2 Gallery/Agency, Paris; Jeannette Mariani, Director of 13 Sévigné Gallery, Paris; Bernard Utudjian, Director of Galerie Polaris, Paris; Agnès Voltz, Director of Chambre Avec Vues, Paris; and Alice Gabriner, World Picture Editor of Time Magazine, New York.

ABOUT Px3:
The "Prix de la Photographie Paris" (Px3) strives to promote the appreciation of photography, to discover emerging talent, and introduce photographers from around the world to the artistic community of Paris. Winning photographs from this competition are exhibited in a high-profile gallery in Paris and published in the high-quality, full-color Px3 Annual Book.
Visit http://px3.fr

For Press Inquiries, Contact:
info@px3.fr

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