CROSSED PATHS

As luck would have it, for about a week these two tokkuri crossed paths, both coming and later going their own way but they were enjoyable to handle and study during their stay. I had them both on the corner of a shelf though not as close to the edge originally as in the photo and I noticed this wonderful shadow that was present and decided to take this particular shot of the two tokkuri just hanging out but casting a rather moody and impressive shadow, like siblings, even twins. In the background there is the Kojima Kenji Iga piece and in the foreground is the Echizen-Shigaraki tokkuri by Miyoshi Kentaro but as is immediately clear, they cast a nearly identical shadow made just a bit more atmospheric through the black and white imagery. On a side note, though we live in very different times, look at the B&W photographs of photographers like Ansel Adams, there is an absolute clarity to the imagery in an uncluttered, unfettered and pure way that color can get in the way of and as I look at pots sans color I sometimes think, there is the essence of the pot stripped to its bones, pure fired clay. 

"To think of shadows is a serious thing." Victor Hugo