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

ニューヨークには個性的なパフォーマーが沢山いますが、Kamomeもその一つ。
初めて見たときはギター＆バケツドラムの生音に併せてダンサーが踊る、というスタイルでした。

縁あって彼らのリーダーのヒロくん、そしてダンサーのKazzさんに
ドキュメンタリープロジェクトの中に登場していただきました。

この日はそのKazzさん(真ん中)が日本に帰国する前の、最後のストリートギグ。
しばらくは二度とやれないメンバーでライブするKamomeの集合写真を撮らせてもらいました。

彼らの遠慮のないやり取りを見ていて「仲間っていいな」と思うことしきり。
彼らの熱さは、写真にも表れているでしょうか。

Hero – Hiroshi Nakamura
Blog / MySpace / Official Website

Kamome Myspace
 

Hiro

パリで開かれるPX3という写真のコンペティションでHonorable Mentionを頂きました。

今回初めてトライしたのですが、まさか自分がHonorable Mentionをもらえるなんて思っておらず、とてもうれしいです。
まだ若いコンペティションなのですが、一位～三位を取るフォトグラファーには「さすが！」な方の名前が並んでいて、写真もハイレベルなものがごろごろしています。

学生時代の先生が、このコンペティションで同じ賞を取っていたこともあり、なんだか恐縮してしまいます。

(ところでHonorable Mentionは日本語でなんと言うのでしょうか・・・優秀賞？佳作？)
 
 
なんにしても、とても励みになります。来年もがんばります。

 
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

I decided to leave the city.
This is the city took me into the art of photography. This is the city I learned photography. This is the city I started to work in the photo industry.

But at some point, I realized I have no idea how people are living with photos in my native country – Japan – and somehow I started not to feel good about it.

So I decided to move to Japan. But before doing so, I wanted to work on a project about this city, the city I love.

This is an ongoing project (not titled yet).
 
 
この夏、ニューヨークの日本人を撮っています。

今年の秋にNYを出ることに決めました。

NYで写真を学び、NYの写真のインダストリーで働いてきました。
この街で学んだ事を挙げれば限りがありません。沢山の修行をさせてもらいました。

この街が大好きで、この街にずっと住もうかな、なんて常に迷いながら毎日を過ごしてきました。

今では第二の故郷になったこの街とこの街の芸術には深い思い入れがあります。
でもある時から、自分の生まれ育った国の写真を知らないことを気持ちよく思わない自分がいました。

ゆっくり考えたのですが、やはり気持ちよくありません。
 
 
ですので、NYを出ます。

でもその前に、慣れ親しんだこの街を舞台に何か作品を残したいと考えました。

そこでNYに生きる日本の人たちの毎日を撮らせてもらうことにしました。

タイトルは未定。
 
 
 
Reiko Morikawa, Dancer

ここに居るワケ：

けど、何故だかココにおらなあかん気がするから…

One of my works titled as "summer dance" was selected for a group show called "Staged: The Constructed Photograph." This exhibition is held at Gallery RFD in Swinsboro, GA.

Information on the show:

June 13th – July 4th, 2009

Guest Juror: Harvey Stein
Photographer, Teacher, Curator
International Center for Photography, NYC

[Countless photographers discuss the concept of taking a picture vs. making a picture and arguments can be made for either one. Can the constructed image tell us something the found image cannot? Does a photograph that was captured in the heat of a moment comment more closely on society that an image that was thoughtfully composed to have the same effect? Gallery RFD seeks submissions of photographic works that have been created, arranged, and composed from the ground up in attempt to convey their own truths.]

ジョージア州の小さな町、Swinsboroという町にあるギャラリーで行われるグループ展に参加することになりました。
ギャラリーの名前はGallery RFDといいます。

ジョージア州でエキシビジョン！仕事場にもジョージア出身が何人かいて、話が盛り上がります。

Hiro

I’m thinking to wrtie this blog both in English and Japanese. Sometimes it’ll be in either one of them, or sometimes even in both (like this time).

Little bit about myself. My name is Hiro Kobayashi. Originally from Akita, Japan. I’m a young photographer residing in New York City. Love to travel. Love to read. In a big love with stilllife photography.

It was my first time to install and use WordPress. It took for long to write this first posting because I really needed a long time to figure out how things are working behind WordPress. But because of my friend, Takuro’s huge help (thanks, Takuro!), I’m done with installation and finally posting something here. It’s a gigantic step to me.

You may still find some problems on this blog (desing-wise, system-wise). If you do, please inform me. I would really appreciate.

こんにちは。ヒロです。

このブログは、現在製作中のウェブサイトhirok.jpの一部になる予定のブログです。

日本語･英語両方でなるべく書こうと思っていますが、はたしてどれだけ英語で書けるか･･･。

更新頻度も高くありませんが、暖かく見守っていただけると幸いです。

毎日についてと、展示などのお知らせを書いていきたいと思っています。

Hiro

For some reasons, I had to stop using the server which hirok.jp was being hosted by.

So I had to switch to a new server. I found a server that meets my needs ( bluehost.com – nice & cheap!) , and then installed WordPress. Then I realized I needed to transfer the database file for WordPress from the old server – which I had not backed up onto my local disk yet.

Then now I found, however, all the files on the old server had been deleted already.

…

…

……Oooops.

Now as you may see, all the past postings are gone, while other little things – design or plug-in settings – are also gone.

Thanks for Google cache, I still have some references on what I wrote. I'll shortly bring it back to how it looked like. Please allow a while for the recovery.

Hiro