Postcards from the Darkroom V

V.

On January 1st, 2015, it started to snow and it didn’t stop all day. It looked forbiddingly cold outside. My wife was nine months pregnant and I just wanted to relax before our son was born because everyone was telling me how much my life was going to change when I became a father. So I was catching up on films over the holiday but I kept looking out the window, watching the snow accumulate. So finally I forced myself to go out into the forbidding col and see what I would discover. I ended up walking for over four hours, well into the darkness. I’d forgotten how beautiful everything looks, so much changed, including this otherwise ordinary Kyoto shrine scene. To make it more ethereal, I dodged the women in the centre of the image while darkroom printing to cast a heavenly spotlight on them. Turns out it was the most snowfall in the city in 64 years. I was reminded to trust my instincts. If it looks amazing outside, no matter how warm or comfortable you are in your hearth, hit the road and see what you may see…

Postcards from the Darkroom Series

“Back by popular demand, Postcards from the Darkroom is a feature on Haptic Press by Sean Lotman. All images posted will be scans of his color prints handmade in his darkroom. A lover of narrative and color and travel, Sean hopes to tell a story or at least convey a feeling. He is the author of Sunlanders (Available for a limited time in the HAPTIC SHOP).”

Pick up a copy of Sean Lotman’s Sunlanders available for a limited time in the HAPTIC SHOP.

Sean Lotman x Haptic Featured Artist

A native of Los Angeles, California, Sean Lotman is based in Japan. Having spent most of his twenties and thirties working on narrative fiction, he is now focused on photography, particularly color darkroom printing. His first photo book, Sunlanders, was published in London by Bemojake in September, 2016. He is currently working on his second book, Blown Zen Moments, which pairs prints made with the Dian f+ toy camera with haiku poetry. He lives in Kyoto with his wife, the photographer Ariko Inaoka, and their young son, Tennbo.