Kansai. Evening. In love (again). We are now down to the very last hours of this phenomenal Japan trip – an adventure that Charlotte has researched, planned and arranged from beginning to end. It’s Charlotte who managed the tickets for every leg by plane, train, ferry, tram, taxi, and bus. She booked all seven great […]
My new book, “Abandoned – The Beauty in What Remains” has just been published on Amazon and can be ordered from Sweden here and from the US and nearby territories here. From the new book’s introduction: I suspect there is a psychological connection to my own abandonment issues which, at least in part, could explain […]
Yesterday was an amazing day that started with the daschound (bottom left) and ended with a tall tower (bottom right). I’ll willingly admit that I was a bit hesitant about heading out to Nara Park (奈良公園) outside of Osaka to see the bowing deer. But I don’t regret going, deer-spite my initial doubts. On contraire. […]
We’re back in Osaka, where this fantastically inspiring trip across Japan began several weeks ago. This time around, we’re staying in the Namba district, where izakayas are packed tightly along every street and alley corner. Charlotte booked us into a nice apartment hotel, so now we finally have a glorious 50 m² (538 ft²) to […]
Yesterday was our second day of biking on the “art island” Naoshima. This time we cycled around the entire island, stopping in a couple of small villages and sleepy fishing hamlets. Another day of beautiful weather. There’s a really warm atmosphere on Naoshima. People we passed on the street greeted us with cheerful smiles — […]
Here’s a compilation of some footage I shot yesterday on the stunningly beautiful island of Naoshima in western Japan.
This is from yesterday’s visit to Naoshima, which felt like stepping into a slow, sunlit island dream. We had booked a museum showing works by Monet and James Turrell, the American light-and-space artist whose installations somehow make you feel both grounded and weightless at the same time. But most of the day was spent biking […]
This is the short film I put together from our visit to Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple (愛宕念仏寺) the other day in the hills of Arashiyama, where I found myself surrounded by one of Kyoto’s most unusual sights – 1,200 hand-carved rakan statues, each with its own quirky, expressive face. The statues were created in the 1980s by […]
Last night we ate two beautiful bowls filled with juicy udon noodles in miso, topped with tempura shrimp and fried tofu. Absolutely delicious. We found this at a tiny little place Charlotte knew about, right next to the geisha district of Gion here in Kyoto. We eat dinner out roughly every other evening. On the […]
I love herons. I’ve seen plenty of them along the Katsura-gawa (桂川) river in Kyoto. I think the last time I captured one was along a deserted beach on an island in the Maldives. They are special birds.
Unsurprisingly, Charlotte and I have already developed an addiction toward a few particular eateries here in Kyoto. One of them is Motomachi Doria – the Japanese interpretation of an American diner where they serve delicious comfort food. At its core, my favorite “Doria” consists of a bed of rice, rich cream sauce, tender chicken, then […]
Unless you’ve got the means to stay in a five-star hotel in Japan, you’ll likely not get a much better view than the one we have from our hotel here in Kyoto. Our room is tiny – probably just over 20 square meters (about 215 square feet) – and the only window we can actually […]
Captured this grey heron along the Camo-Gawa River yesterday evening at the tail-end of “blue hour”. The light here feels almost otherworldly. The November sun sits way lower and casts a much softer, warmer light than it ever does this time of year back home in Malmö, Sweden. And with Kyoto getting roughly four extra […]
I wholeheartedly embrace serendipity (chance) when I wander through cities I really want to get to know. I intentionally get lost and let my intuition and spontaneity guide my gaze, my steps, and my camera. There’s always something – or someone – interesting along my path, waiting to be captured, portrayed, preserved. I took these […]
Soft serve – or sofuto kurīmu as it’s called here – has been a part of Japanese culture since the 1950s, when it first appeared at a Tokyo amusement park and quickly won the hearts (and taste buds) of the country. Over the years, Japan has turned this cold treat into something close to art: smooth, […]
Yesterday’s lunch here in Kyoto was another wonderful surprise. I found this unassuming Japanese-style diner tucked away on the top floor of a shopping mall near Kyoto Station – the kind of place you find via serendipity rather than intent. The chicken–cheese–rice–edamame bowl I ordered cost just 1,000 yen (≈ $6/SEK60), yet it arrived within […]
Sunday. Night. Kyoto. Rain. Long-awaited. Our first week in Kyoto has been intense – to put it mildly. We’ve been crashing early, waking up at dawn, getting a few hours of work done, and then heading out to shoot stills and video in this surprisingly walkable city that never stops delivering new impressions and experiences. […]
Yesterday, under mostly blue skies, Charlotte and I visited Kyoto Imperial Palace – the former residence of Japan’s emperors until the capital moved to Tokyo in 1869. The weather alone made the experience feel almost ceremonial: sharp autumn light, crisp air, and not too many other visitors sharing the neatly raked gravel paths between the great wooden gates […]
Today, you, our dearest, wonderful Elle, turn 25! Even though we can’t celebrate you in the family’s traditional way – with presents, champagne, and strawberries in bed – we hope you know that our love for you, today and always, builds bridges across the distance between us. Especially today on this, your twenty-fifth birthday! That […]
On the far side of the bridge by our hotel here in Kanazawa, there’s a narrow side street with a beautiful wooden shrine just off the riverbank. It’s easy to miss. Fortunately, I didn’t. Under a shallow roof closest to the street, lined up shoulder to shoulder, stand a handful of stone figures. Round faces, […]
From Mikado to Yamato: A 25-Year Arc of Japanese Food My love for Japanese food didn’t start in Tokyo or Osaka – it began in Gothenburg, Sweden, some forty years ago at a small restaurant called Mikado. I ate there so often the staff started recognizing me. I even celebrated my 25th birthday there with my […]
Food coma. That’s what Charlotte calls it, I often seem to suffer from it here. I simply can’t resist eating more with my eyes than my stomach can handle. Everything tastes ridiculously delicious in Japan – and since most restaurants take orders via a tablet, I somehow tend to order a few extra dishes. The […]
Thursday Thoughts in Kanazawa When the hotel toilet senses that I’m approaching, a soft blue light glows from the bowl, followed by a gentle pre-rinse. Like a prelude – or foreplay. When I’m done, it flushes automatically. The other day, while sitting on the heated toilet seat made by the Japanese brand Toto, the song “You […]
There’s a rhythm to Kanazawa that I could get used to. Yesterday started with a 5K run along the Sai River in cool autumn air and a little rain. I passed a few fellow runners, a couple of cyclists, and two or three elderly people walking their dogs. Most smiled. Some waved. Then we basically […]
It’s Sunday in Kanazawa. Dipping those green, crispy squid pieces into the bowl of creamy wasabi mayo during last night’s dinner felt almost sinful. It was as if the Shinto gods Izanagi and Izanami had conspired to create this irresistible recipe, best washed down with a pint of cold Asahi. Okay, two pints. I love […]
This is my everyday breakfast at the Umedaholic Hotel here in Osaka. Like so much else in Japan, there’s an almost meditative thoughtfulness in how everything is put together: the colors are in balance, the portions are generous but never heavy, and the details make the whole tray feel right even before I’ve taken the […]
Charlotte captured this during last night’s delicious dinner here in Umeda, Osaka, Japan. We ate at the same place I’d frequented several times during my visit in January. Osaka was chilly then, but now it’s perfect weather, around 18–23 °C. Like a nice Swedish summer. After a month of photography in Bangkok’s relentless heat and […]
I can’t fully explain why Japan has held my interest since my first visit more than 15 years ago. Maybe it’s because the land of the rising sun feels like an assemblage of everything that inspires me about Asia – the food, the orderly rhythm of daily life, the respect and politeness, and those sudden […]
This man, maybe my age, maybe older, pushing a cart stacked with popcorn, was my only shot that entire day. A livelihood on wheels. As a popcorn buff, how could I not photograph this? I love walking around Bangkok and letting serendipity hand me scenes worthy of an exposure or two. This city doesn’t curate […]
I shot this the other day in the heart of Chinatown. The light was irresistible and I knew beforehand that if I didn’t take the shot, I would regret it. I waited a beat, watched the afternoon sun shine across the old storefronts, and pressed the shutter. I met Charlotte in October of 1996, almost […]
Met a real-life leading lady at Siam Paragon the other day: Patravadi Mejudhon (aka Lek Patravadi) – the actress who so eloquently played Sritala, the resort owner in The White Lotus Season 3. Ms Patravadi was graceful, gracious, and every bit as charming off-screen as she is on. Bonus memory: during Siam Paragon’s inaugural week in December 2005, I was invited through a PR agency […]
Yesterday afternoon I set myself a one-hour challenge: get truly uncomfortable and make at least six street frames of everyday life I’d normally avoid; get close, don’t ask, shoot from the hip. Posed or unposed didn’t matter. Last but definitely not least: leave the phone in my pocket. Bangkok was my first love in Asia. […]
Everyday life on the east bank of the Chao Phraya – along Charoen Krung, through Talat Noi, past Song Wat and Chinatown – has held me in its spell for more than a decade. In the warm climate of Southeast Asia, much of life flows outdoors. People rise with the coolness of dawn and gather […]
Today, as one of 36 photographers, I’ve been invited by Khun Jate and his Fotoclub to share thoughts about a precious image – taken near Rattanakosin in Bangkok in the fall of 1988 – at the DNA Travel Fair & Festival at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. If you’re in Bangkok, do drop by and […]
I just published my new photography book with visual impressions from over 25 years of visiting Österlen in southeastern Skåne. There are some sample images from the book over here: www.raboff.com/osterlen-book To order your copy of Österlen” from Sweden, click here and to order it from the rest of the world, including the US, click here.