THE ADVENTURE

In 2020, Fuji announced the discontinuation of its iconic Pro 400H 35mm film stock. I bought up every roll I could find and decided to save them for a book. This is only the second roll I’ve shot in five years. The first roll was split between two projects: “Art of War,” which I was hired to direct, shoot, and edit with two-time Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, half the roll went to behind-the-scenes frames of Adrien in the heavy Utica, NY snow. Two months later, the remaining frames captured the 30th-anniversary Gathering of Nations PowWow in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Now I’m at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto, Japan, with that second roll of Pro 400H loaded into my favorite camera, the 1999 Canon 1V, paired with Sigma Art 35 mm f/1.4 and 50 mm f/1.4 lenses. The two-hour hike up was fantastic; I’ve always dreamed of photographing this place. Shot #1 is my favorite, luck gave me a perfectly straight horizon that feels balanced every time I see it, and there’s always something special when the first frame isn’t a throwaway. Another favorite is the old motorcycle I found on a side trail near a house clinging to the mountainside, an unexpected gem just steps from the famous tourist spot.

Jet lag worked in my favor the next morning: I woke at 5:15 a.m. and set off for Arashiyama Bamboo Forest to catch sunrise. By 6:15 a.m. the first yellow sunlight was spilling through the entrance groves; you can see that golden cast in the across the bamboo tree line. The final frame, #36, was taken at 6:55 a.m. A few people wandered through, but it was still quiet enough that I waited, snapped, and captured a rare empty moment, no Photoshop, no generative ai removal. Just me, alone in one of Kyoto’s coolest spots I've ever been on earth. A moment I will cherish forever.