We think.

Thought-provoking indeed, at a time when I'm trying to build a new career. "How do we make a living when everyone is freely sharing their ideas . . . " via Jackanory. Be sure to visit the Youtube page and read the comments.

Where I'm at

2 men playing a boardgame in Nagasaki.

Maiko-san in Kyoto.

Petals in the Dutch quarter in Nagasaki.

Risa is a friend who volunteered to model for me after work one night.

Joe is a friend. Also a photographer and a model, these pics were to fill out his portfolio. And mine too.

The mighty Envy, one of my fave Tokyo bands finish their set at Shibuya Ax.

Performance artist Kate E Deene approached me and video artists Richard Grehan to collaborate with her on a performance and eventual installation. More on that later.

Took this one of Darin & Jake at Tyer & Mihoko's wedding.

I took Sarah & Keisuke's wedding shots 2 years ago, I wanted to follow up with some anniversary shots. They are so happy.

Well, sorry Davey - I'm still being a bad blogger.

I thought I'd quickly squeeze in a visual diary of what I've been up to before my next shoot starts in about an hour...

These pics are a few highlights from my work life of recent weeks. I'm enjoying the change of lifestyle - nothing excites me more than to get behind the camera and shoot, or in front of my computer and edit, or to pick up one of the books donated by the awesome people who support me in my comical efforts to become a professional photographer! The latest one is from Tokyo's very own Ms T - thank you darlin' - your endless support is priceless.

Not enjoying the lack of money though, and I actually counted out my rent in ¥1000 notes a few days back - all earned from English teaching.

I'm working on completely replacing my embarrassing photography website, using Lightroom galleries, and I'll be putting the much-missed and endlessly requested return of the Manholes of Japan gallery there to draw in the page views.

In less than a week my besties Jackie & Adrian from Pendragon Shoes will be here, and they are shouting me a few days in Kyoto to celebrate. That's from the 9th. Pretty exciting.

Gotta run now, the makeup artist has arrived....

Love youz all! Please remember to check my Flickr page for new work - it's kinda updated more regularly than here. Also, I've been putting up my happy snaps at my facebook albums page. Go check them out. UPDATE: Facebook won't let people who aren't members yet to access my main albums directly but you can visit individual albums. Click on the links below to see some of them: Random Explosions in the Sky / Mono / Envy / WEGF @ Shibuya Ax

Technorati Tags: Japan, Models, Photography, Photography shoots, Tokyo

Tyler and Mihoko's wedding

Tyler and Mihoko up at the wedding table....

Tyler and Mihoko arrive at their wedding party with a spotight, and a parasol.

Saying their vows.

Tyler and the priest waiting for Mihoko and her Dad to arrive.

The new Al Gore slideshow.

In Al Gore's brand-new slideshow (premiering exclusively on TED.com), he presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists were recently predicting, and challenges us to act with a sense of "generational mission" -- the kind of feeling that brought forth the civil rights movement -- to set it right. Gore's stirring presentation is followed by a Q&A in which he is asked for his verdict on the current political candidates' climate policies and on what role he himself might play in future. (Recorded March 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 27:54.)

Important stuff.

Explosions in the Sky / Envy / Mono / WEGF

Explosions in the Sky plus...

April (and a new enterprise) begins...

Hello again! I know, I know, it's been quiet around here, but that always just means I've been busy. I got back from an awesome 12 day photo-jaunt to Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Onomichi, Kurashiki, Nara and Kyoto last week and have been buried up to my eyeballs in catch-ups, backups and meta-overhauls of all things (and a little cherry-blossom madness, too).

I'm in the process of eliminating all unnecessary things from my wardrobe, my house, my computer and my lifestyle. Running and doing yoga on alternate days and have actually - foolishly? - signed up for the TELL annual charity marathon in May, where I plan to run 5 kms (need to get pledges so friends, be warned, I'll be hitting you up for pledge support). I can hear my parents laughing uproariously all the way from heaven - I come from a long line of hedonists for whom the concept of scheduled exercise was ridiculed over an endless supply of rum and cokes and cigarettes....

I've also entered the "college of home-study" in the area of "Starting up a photography business from scratch". It's utterly terrifying not having a wage anymore. It's also deliriously exciting. (Don't panic, I have a weekly cash income from my private students so I am able to pay the rent and bills - but I foresee no more travel or dinners out for some time....)

I keep getting asked "But what exactly are you doing?"... well, here it is:

I'm spending my time overhauling my organisational file structures and backup systems, tagging everything and overhauling metadata stuff. Once all that is done, I'll start work on the final edit of a portfolio (and make a couple of portfolio books as well as an online portfolio gallery). I want to seriously tweak martinecotton.com and get my photoshelter stock stuff sorted out and then start putting my name out there in the ring. First impressions count and I want to be totally ready before I step fully into the commercial fray. Eventually, I plan to have an online store that features not only stock photography but also cards, postcards, calendars and *oh, so exciting!* photobooks.

My main target here in Tokyo for basic bread-and-butter cash flow will be portraits, events, weddings and family shoots. But I mostly want to develop a great creative portfolio to get in to magazine work and since I already have some photos featured in a 2 page spread in a glossy mag here (coming out this month, based on this shoot) I'm off to a good start there.

There's been some buzz around the intarwebs lately about the 1000 true fans theory. If you haven't read the article already, and are an artist/photographer/musician/writer or developing some new project, you should go and read it. NOW! (and make sure you read the comments too). It makes a lot of sense. Here's the basic gist:

One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

One thousand is a feasible number. You could count to 1,000. If you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating. It rewards the artist to remain true, to focus on the unique aspects of their work, the qualities that True Fans appreciate.

The key challenge is that you have to maintain direct contact with your 1,000 True Fans. They are giving you their support directly. Maybe they come to your house concerts, or they are buying your DVDs from your website, or they order your prints from Pictopia. As much as possible you retain the full amount of their support. You also benefit from the direct feedback and love.

I've been receiving some unexpected and lovely gifts from you awesome readers (thanks so much -you know who you are!), and it made me realise that, after doing this blog for over 5 years, I already have my own supportive community - maybe not yet numbering 1000, but at least - well - certainly at least 4 (and I have the gifted books to prove it)! If you want to (and are able to) help me in any way, (in the spirit of the 1000 true fans concept), please drop by my amazon wishlist and buy any one of the books listed there. Most of these books are text books or the kinds of books you would expect to find in a photography course and include topics like legal guides, photo history, technical stuff, software guides and so on.

Alternatively, if you don't much care for books and would rather see me buying new gear like strobes, filters, studio equipment, etc - you could try donating money through paypal (all donations will be used for the express purpose of photography related expenses):

In return, you will be added to a private mailing list which will receive monthly updates on what's going on in my photo world, and also receive special offers such as postcards, calendars and ...eventually.. reduced rates on the photo books I plan to start producing (at the repeated behests of my family and friends). You will need to email me directly (martinecotton@gmail.com) if you go through Amazon as the gift system there doesn't include email addresses, just postal addresses.

It's an interesting experiment and I have always enjoyed going down the road less travelled.

Photos from the wedding and my trip should start surfacing soon...

On the road again!

I'm off to Nagasaki at sparrows fart tomorrow morning, as are Kat, Darin & Jake Taiga, to attend Tyler and Mihoko's wedding. It's gonna be such a hoot! Tylers family are coming out from Wisconsin and it'll be their first time in Japan. There is a lot of cool stuff planned for us, hopefully the rain won't be too much of a problem.

After the 3 day wedding celebrations settle down, I'm planning a slow trip up to Kyoto on my own, stopping off in Onomichi, Kurashiki and Nara. In Kyoto, I'm meeting up with my dear Aureole - she'll be in Japan for 5 days on her way to the European Tattoo Convention circuit. I'm pretty excited about being able to show her Kyoto in hanami time. The cherry blossoms will be out and there'll be a great vibe in the air.

Spring is really an important time in Japan (as I have mentioned on at least 5 other occasions) - an annual cycle ends, another begins. Schools graduate. Companies accept their new staff intakes. Taxes are paid... More so than usual, this spring feels like significant time for me. Lots of people leaving, others swinging by for visits, and all the while all of them/us making great plans for the future. I had an interesting meeting with a guy today about a potentially awesome option for my fabulous new career (in all it's embryonic glory). Hope it pans out. Will be able to talk about it some more by the end of April (if we can make it happen!).

Anyways.

You can see some snaps from the past weeks worth of events over at my facebook albums. They include pics from the mad night out for the beautiful J-sters flying visit, Mountaingoat and Oshioto's itterashai party at Araku, a day at the park and Timbo and Andrews sayonara party. Actually, Tim isn't leaving till next week but Kat, Darin & I are heading off to Nagasaki so last night was the last night we'd all be in Tokyo the same night... seems so strange. I will really miss you, Tim. Tokyo won't be quite the same without you.

Kanpai!

Bye Timbo!

Bye (again) Andrew!

Walk long and prosper Mountaingoat

*Love* that golden hair J-Ster!

Oh. And I bought a new camera.

Hiwatari Festival

A little while back - somewhere before the big night out with old buddies Billy and Sean, and another big night out with the J-ster, and another big night out for the walkers at their itterashai party, somewhere before I started archiving all my stuff to photoshelter (nothing visible to the public yet) and somewhere in amongst an excessive schedule of private lessons over a 6 day period, I had a lovely day out at Takao with Mountaingoat. This is a pretty pic I shot of him at the end of the day. He looks so pretty and huggable, doesn't he. "Kind eyes". (Who says the camera never lies?) He he. No, I love this pic and I'm so glad I caught this well-hidden aspect to the gruff cynical old bastard.

Anyway, he wrote a really cool story about our day out there at Takao, so go read it here. And my Hiwatari gallery can be found at the usual place. I chose to edit these pics with a bit of an ol-timey feeling since it is such a timeless ceremony and place.

I am totally backlogged with stories to tell and pictures to show but am heading off to Nagasaki for Tyler & Mihoko's wedding in a few days so don't know if I'll get time to catch up... I'll do my best though. It's been a fun time. It should be remembered.