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Fukuoka, Japan
I took a bus from near Hakata to the Fukuoka Dome area. Today’s photo is out the left window of the bus as we sped along the highway (福岡高速環状線). Out my window to the right was Hakata Bay. The sky was preparing for the incoming typhoon.
Plaza between Fukuoka Dome and Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk Hotel
Sculptures like this serve as a meeting place when tens of thousands of people are trying to find each other on game day. Things seemed eerily quiet on this day as the team wasn’t playing. Around this location there were lots of bronzed player hands that kids could “shake” or at least compare to their own hands.
Stone Torii @ Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine (太宰府天満宮)
Photomerged panorama of Gwangju, South Korea during the blue hour from Chonnam National University
Many times last summer I wanted to go out and take some photos, but the weather wasn’t willing. Even when it wasn’t raining cats and dogs, it would usually be so hot and humid that I would have a hard time breaking away from the corner in my apartment that had AC. But on my last night in Gwangju, Mother Nature was merciful. The rain stopped so I headed to the roof of my apartment building to take these four photos which I finally got around to merging together.
Gwangju Museum of Art (광주광역시립미술관)
Gwangju’s City Art Museum is a somewhat unusual place. It’s a bit hard to get to (I rode my bike) as it isn’t near a subway or train station (much of Gwangju shares this same fate including Chonnam National University). So I wasn’t surprised when the place (in a city of 1.5 million people) was nearly empty. What was surprising is that photography of the works is not allowed. Even though Gwangju loves getting the word out about Gwangju’s May 18 massacre, and many of the works depicted scenes from that event, I asked if I could take photos and they said “no, only a general photo of the museum” (above). This seemed strange for a number of reasons, not just because you’d think they would want information about the massacre spread. The museum wasn’t crowded, the works weren’t famous, and (like Italy and some other museums where photography is prohibited) they weren’t trying to get visitors to buy postcards instead of take photos.
Anyway, this isn’t a museum you will want to travel to Korea in order to visit. If you are in Korea you won’t even want to go to Gwangju to see it. However, if you are stuck in Gwangju for a month or more and are bored out of your mind, you may want to check it out on a day when the weather isn’t so good and you have nothing else to do.
Holiday Lights on State Street @ night (Santa Barbara, California)