ron reeder
This portfolio contains images of the shrines and temples of Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto harbors about 2000 of these structures, each one an oasis of antiquity set in the fairly ugly bustle of a modern city. Many of Kyoto’s temples were founded before A.D. 1000. And despite wars, earthquakes, fires, and woodrot, it is commonplace to find buildings that are 500 years old or more.
Thus, to enter the grounds around a temple is like stepping into a time machine. Blink and you can easily imagine you are in the time of the Tokugawa or the Ashikaga Shoguns.
My personal interest in Japanese culture began when my parents went to Japan as missionaries shortly after WWII. I lived there, near Yokohama, for six years and absorbed the language and customs by osmosis. Later, after graduate school, I returned and spent one year working in the Biochemistry Department of Kyoto University. Most of my free time was spent poking around temples.
Since that time I have visited Japan briefly for business several times. At the end of April, 2005, Judy and I returned to Kyoto after an absence of nearly 20 years. We spent two weeks single-mindedly photographing its temples and shrines. This portfolio is the result.
