What's Your Story?

I had set up a photo studio in the dance studio of the Colburn Dance Institute which is located in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. I was waiting for the arrival of a couple of dancers when Atsuko sort of shuffled by. She was on her way home after a class where she was studying the Japanese Tea ceremony. She was wearing a beautiful kimono and she graciously agreed to be photographed. During the course of this little impromptu session she told me that when she was first learning to put on the kimono properly it took her over two hours just to tie the obi (sash). Now that she’s had practice, it only takes her 30 minutes. And in her own words:

“I am happy that I was able to share with people about a part of my culture through the Kimono….The kimono strikes body movement, and I have to watch my movement, but I believe it brings a beauty of the Kimono....

Anyway, I am happy that people can enjoy the Kimono, too.”

History

These photographs were taken in an area of Los Angeles that is often referred to as south central, in a little restaurant bar called The Town House. Another historic event happened not too far from here, one of the worst race riots in the history of the United States. But on this particular night, the scene was not unlike a baptist revival. I'm pretty sure there were people in this room that never believed that they would live to see the day that an African American would be elected president. Margaret Bush-Ware (the woman wearing the bracelets with her hands in front of her face), as an 11-year old girl, woke one morning to see a cross burning in the front yard of her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This night the tears were of unbridled joy. Of all the places I could have been on this night, I think this was nearly perfect.