travel starts with photography

Hinako Fukuhara knew early on that Chen Xing would come to the island country. She was also present when Kintaro Yamazaki invited Chen Xing to the Kyoto Art Festival last year, but she waited and waited but Chen Xing never sent her a message.

Whenever the phone rings, my heart starts pounding with anticipation.

The longer I wait, the clearer my memories of last year’s trip to France become.

It was not until she saw Chen Xing’s updates online that she learned that Chen Xing was staying at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto, so she rushed over early in the morning. However, she did not expect it to rain so heavily today.

If she had known that she would be like this when she saw Chen Xing again, she might not have come.

But Chen Xing really didn't pay attention to this.

He was really touched just now.

In the short life of human beings, how many girls are willing to come to see you in the rain early in the morning?
In short, I won’t be lonely anymore during the next few days on the island.

No matter where you travel, having a local tour guide will bring great convenience to tourists, especially learning the local language... Even if Chen Xing did not deliberately learn it, his Japanese level improved rapidly.

………………

At the end of April, the Kyoto Art Festival held its closing ceremony.

In the Kyoto Museum, Chen Xing's works have been gradually removed, and his original personal exhibition hall has now returned to its original appearance as a museum, exhibiting some modern artworks.

There were no awards at this art festival, but there were many comments about him on the Internet.

A well-known critic in Tokyo said on INS:
"Mr. Chen Xing's photography style can be described as simple, quiet and restrained, which is best seen in The Milkmaid, my favorite work of mine. But what's even more touching is that his works are full of oriental aesthetic charm, which soothes the soul. As he himself once said... photography is not about capturing objects, but about capturing moods."

The Kyoto Times also devoted a large section to introducing Chen Xing on the day the art festival ended.

The title is very Japanese-style, called: "Legendary Photographer from the Eastern Power"

"…In Chen Xing's works, you can hardly tell which ones are commercial advertisements and which ones are photo shoots. His works always perfectly blend light, color and composition, giving people a unique visual enjoyment. His works not only make people interested in the models, but also give people a sense of beauty."

Nowadays, the profession of critic is no longer applicable in many countries. The portability of the Internet has broken through the discourse power that only traditional critics can hold. Ordinary people can also see other people’s comments on a work, a celebrity, or a movie on the Internet.

But in the island country, critics still have a very important position.

It is said that Chinese people like to join in the fun and have a serious herd mentality, but compared with the island countries, it is really a drop in the bucket. Even now in 2024, if a restaurant is judged by critics from the island countries to be not good in some aspect, then the restaurant will have to close down within a year.

The art world is similar. Chen Xing's works exhibited in Kyoto over the past half month have been well received by a large number of critics, and his fame in the island country has also begun to appear in the eyes of ordinary people who do not usually come into contact with photography.

These news made Chen Xing very proud recently. The only pity was that Kintaro Yamazaki, who invited him to participate in this art festival, was not seen throughout the whole process. His exhibition was in Gion, a famous flower street in Kyoto. Chen Xing went to see it once and felt that the traffic was just average.

At such an important time, he didn't believe that this person had gone on a temporary business trip. He must be hiding somewhere in Kyoto.

You're not coming to see me? Are you giving up?

Chen Xing could only think so.

He had Kintaro Yamazaki's contact number, but calling him now would have felt like showing off.

Forget it, we are not that familiar with each other anyway.

Judging from the exhibition time of more than half a month, my works are indeed more popular, and are among the top photographers participating in the art festival. If this trend continues, I am afraid I can't slack off in the second half of the year.

Artists cannot earn as much money as ordinary people. Among the world's wealthy people, the circle of collectors of photographic works is relatively small. Most of Chen Xing's income comes from modern museums, photography studios and the like in various countries.

Previously, his works were more popular in European museums, but now that his fame has spread back to Asia, the number of works he needs to provide will definitely increase in the future.

Less than a hundred pictures a year may not be enough.

This is all about fame and money.

Chen Xing came to the island country alone and it was quiet, but it was still lively before he left. He heard Kenji Moriyama say that he had a lot of fans in Kyoto, so he held a fan meeting before leaving.

He took many photos and signed many autographs, which gave him a taste of being a celebrity.

On May 5, Chen Xing's tourist visa expired and he flew back home from Tokyo.

In the Kyoto Museum, several newly purchased works have been hung on the walls of the modern art exhibition area, and Kintaro Yamazaki, who has never been seen, is standing among the tourists.

Chen Xing guessed correctly, he had indeed been hiding before.

I thought that the works that won Chen Xing awards last year might just be a flash in the pan. After all, who doesn’t eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year? It’s good enough for a 20-year-old photographer to come up with a masterpiece that shocked the world.

But he didn't expect that Chen Xing would soon create a set of works of the Dunhuang Goddess. The fame of this set of works was even higher than his award-winning works. Many people came to this art festival specifically to see Chen Xing's works.

Almost all critics in this period are praising Chen Xing, and when they mention themselves, they always inevitably say "I unfortunately lost to Chen Xing at the Rencontres d'Arles Photography Festival in France last year."

Hearing the passing tourists' praise for Chen Xing's works, Kintaro Yamazaki's fists clenched.

This time we lost completely.

He was thinking about defeating Chen Xing at an art festival in his country to avenge the defeat in Arles last year, but who knew that he would be humiliated by Chen Xing again. This young man...

I'm afraid I'll have to avoid Chen Xing whenever I see him in the future.

So embarrassing.

He was still immersed in the feeling of failure when a familiar voice suddenly rang in his ears...

"Yamazaki-san?"

Hearing the voice, he turned around in surprise.

Moriyama Kenji's expression was as surprised as his, but he immediately smiled and said, "It's really you, Yamazaki-san, where have you been all this time? It's such a coincidence that Mr. Chen Xing just left."

"Ah, what a coincidence..." Of course I knew he was gone, otherwise why would I be here?
"Mr. Chen Xing has talked about you many times. He would be very happy if he knew you were back in Kyoto." Kenji Moriyama said this with emotion, and then patted Kintaro Yamazaki's arm.

"Thank you very much for inviting Mr. Chen Xing to participate in the exhibition in our country. Let the young photographers of the island country see more excellent photographers of big countries, so that they can put aside their narrow-minded thinking."

Yamazaki Kintaro agreed on the surface, but his fingernails were almost digging into his flesh. (End of this chapter)