After the grand luck of Dom and Liduina contacting me for a wedding haikyo shoot a few months back, I figured I couldn`t bank on the same thing happening again. If I wanted to shoot models in haikyo more, I`d have to get out there and find them myself. So I put out a casting call, not sure if anyone would reply. Well, several did, which was great. The first I organized a shoot with was Sara, at the Keishin Hospital.
Sara came along with a couple of her friends, which I was glad to see. There`s bound to be some trust issues when entering a haikyo- you`re basically entering a (sort of) lawless area that is off the grid. Bringing some friends along definitely helps to alleviate those issues- letting all of us relax and focus on the shoot/exploring.
Two of Sara`s friends joined us; Jason and Yuko. We all met up on the train and had a chat about our various jobs (3 of us were/had been ALT`s), and about haikyo in general.
Once at the hospital we got busy, with Sara changing into a striking golden gown, while Jason and Yuko contributed far more than I`d expected by respectively scouting good shooting areas and helping me with the off-camera flash. Jason even got in for a few of the more relaxed/fun shots, which made for a neat change of pace.
A few things to note-
– There were two other groups in the hospital at the same time as us, one shooting a short horror film scene, the other a gang of mid-teens just laughing and running around. There was a pretty good vibe, actually.
– Around the same time that I went for this shoot, the fate of the Keishin Hospital was being decided at auction. Apparently the local council has wanted to get hold of the structure for years and demolish it, after receiving many complaints from local residents. Apparently a kid was beaten up there last year. Anyway, they had not been able to buy out the place for a long time because it was being used as collateral for other loans. That business finally went bankrupt though, and the council snapped up Keishin in a fire-sale. I hear they`ll turn the land into a park. Source- Japan Headlines Examiner
Sara in the lobby.
Cricket with an old surgical light.
Sara, with Jason. What`s the story behind this shot, I wonder. Note- the light was very heavy: good job Sara!
Jason shows us rage.
Forecourt.
3rd floor. I had a helluva time lighting this. It`s not perfect, but pretty close to what I wanted. Sara showed a heap of patience while I tinkered with settings.
Up on the roof.
Attitude.
Love this pose. Sara has a very distinctive slash of white hair at her temple, a birth-mark.
Love the contrast, shot with 50mm 1.4 to blur the ruined corridor behind her.
Of course I took a heck of a lot more shots. Some of them I may put up in bits and pieces.
Thanks again to Sara for being such a great and patient model, and to Jason and Yuko for helping out so much. I`m really pleased with the shots we managed to get. Cheers!
See my full collection of Japanese ruins in the haikyo galleries:
[album id=4 template=compact]Look in the other galleries for world ruins and fantasy ruins.
Comments 11
Nice photos Michael. How did you cast out for models by the way? Did you put an ad in somewhere?
Funnily enough, I just stumbled across the very same news article and posted it on Twitter today. Sad to hear Keishin will be gone soon. Glad I got there last year ;). Will have to post my photos sometime too!
Thanks for sharing your model shoot and the previous graffiti shoot. I’ve driven by this hospital many times, but never had the time or desire to enter such a creepy place…
I used to wonder how the artists were able to paint around the windows several stories up. Some of the graffiti appears to beyond the reach of normal people… But then again, perhaps obake have long arms?
BTW – Your post may have been erroneously tagged – Marianas Islands.
A nice set of photos, Mike, especially the color manipulation.
Author
Mike- Cheers, yeah I put an ad out. I heard that they won`t actually get round to demolishing Keishin for about a year, but don`t know if that`s true or not. If so, still plenty of time for folks to see it.
Michael- I know what you mean, I guess the kids either hung from the roof on ropes, or just leaned the heck out of the windows. One time I saw that doors had been used to span some distance, and can imagine nervous graffiti-ers balancing precariously while trying to set out their tag.
David- Thanks, the color manipulation was fun.
Awesome pics.I love the black and white mixed with the color, and the graffitti shots are absolutely slammin’! But where’s the beautiful model you promised? All i see a well-made up woman in a beautiful dress…joudan dake. She’s attractive.
Loco
I agree — great photos and very nice editing!
Hows the place looking now anyway? Last time I went, some of the graffiti artists appeared to have begun clearing and tidying rooms in the southern wing and arranging some basic furniture akin to a professional exhibition space.
Author
Locohama- Cheers, those shots definitely look better in B and W. In color the model just gets lost in the riot of graffiti/overgrowth color that the place is rampant with.
JapanDave- Domo!
Paul- I didn’t notice any of that, perhaps it was only for a temporary show. Though I didn’t go up to the top floor this time, so maybe up there?
Cool… i see you have started a section “models” … keep it up!!
tell you friend she is magnificent, should model here in Milan instead of the skinny corpses we get to work with !