UMBILICUS by photographer Ithaka Darin Pappas (Tokyo 1992)

"UMBILICUS" (the Tokyo  belly-button project)

by artist, Ithaka Darin Pappas 

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"UMBILICUS" by Ithaka Darin Pappas (Japanese belly-button project - 1992) @photographer_ithaka.d.pappas *To schedule this exhibit at a museum or gallery - or for merchandising inquiries, please contact ithaka.official@gmail.com

Although originally conceived in 1988, it wasn’t until the summer of 1992, while briefly living in Japan, that Ithaka Darin Pappas began and completed his photographic project UMBILICUS, a collection of one-hundred and twenty-seven black and white navel portraits. During a period of two months, Ithaka combed the streets of Tokyo is search of willing belly-button subjects.

However, photographing in the light of day, sometimes in the middle of public squares and parks filled with thousands of people, did not prove to be an easy task. Japanese people were quite shy when asked to show their navels in public to a stranger, further complicated by the fact that the photographer was a Gaijin (foreigner).

For this reason some sessions were held in the subjects’ homes or offices after first meeting them in public. Regardless, because of the high rejection rate (10-20 refusals for every one acceptance), sometimes it would take an entire day just to complete the belly-button portrait of only one or two subjects. In addition to the Japanese majority of navels photographed, a percentage of outsiders were also included. These individuals were from Brazil, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United States. Subject ages ranged from three to ninety-six. In addition to the Japanese majority of navels, a percentage of outsiders were also included. People from Brasil, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and the United States. Says Ithaka, “I didn’t photograph tourists for the project, but only actual residents of Tokyo.The foreigners who participated, mostly in their 20s-40s, were all living full-time in Tokyo and held a diverse spectrum of jobs from dishwasher to scientist. Among the Japanese subjects - I photographed the navels of children as young as three (as well as those of their parents) and elderly people too, one in his late 90's. The end result of UMBILICUS wasn’t only a study of human anatomy, but in actuality, concluded in becoming an anthropological observation of Tokyo’s population in 1992."

UMBILICUS was published for the first time in January 1993 in the Japanese edition of the world-renowned fine art photography quarterly called Déja-Vu (Issue #11), the same issue that photographic legends Inose Kou, Frederick Sommer and Nobuyoshi Araki appeared. Other international magazine appearances of UMBILICUS soon followed. In 1995, the rock group Flood (signed to the Portuguese label, União Lisboa) chose images from UMBILICUS to appear on the front and back cover of their debut album, Despertar.

In 1996, the San Francisco culture magazine Speak featured Ithaka’s UMBILICUS as their cover-story. The cover itself (designed by world-famous graphic artist Martin Venesky) was considered controversial, causing the magazine to be returned by many of their distributors. It was the worst-selling issue in the magazine’s history.

Also in 1996, UMBLILICUS was exhibited at Lisbon’s Instituto Português do Juventude, with selected images printed as large as two-meters wide and toned with Ithaka’s trademark deep blues. Later in 1998, UMBILICUS was shown at Galeria Zé dos Bois (ZDB) in Lisbon, as part of Ithaka's larger photographic exhibit entitled, Quality Time. #bellybuttons #photography #ithakadarinpappas ________________________________________________________________ Ithaka is represented by WOA-Way Of Arts (Portugal) and Coffin Alley Gallery (US)

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Photo: Ithaka Darin Pappas © 2018

Note: These images are not Public Domain, it is Necessary to acquire authorization

thru my myself ithaka.official@gmail.com or my representatives at the Tack Artist Agency Group in Los Angeles before reproducing in print, online or merchandising ... thank you.

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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12579280/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1

Inspiring photographers: Shihachi Fujimoto, Bruce Gilden Hisae Imai, Takeji Iwamiya, Akira Komoto, Motoichi Kumagai, Seiji Kurata, Michiko Matsumoto, Aizō Morikawa, Eiichi Moriwaki, Tadayuki Naitoh, Kiyoshi Nishiyama, Yoshino Ōishi, Kōji Satō, Tokihiro Satō, Bukō Shimizu, Mieko Shiomi, Teikō Shiotani, Raghubir Singh, Yutaka Takanashi, Toyoko Tokiwa, Haruo Tomiyama, Kansuke Yamamoto 

Artist David Onri Anderson "Apple Core Peace Temple” Patrick Painter Gallery

Nashville based artist David Onri Anderson at the opening of his exhibit "Apple Core Peace Temple” hosted Patrick Painter Gallery (Bergamot Arts Center, Santa Monica, California) in March 2019. Photo by Ithaka Darin Pappas

Contact High Exhibit's Unusual Eazy E Skateboarding Photograph By Ithaka Darin Pappas at 2017 Photoville in Brooklyn, New York

[Contact High: Hip-Hop’s Iconic Photographs and Visual Culture]

Rapper, Eazy E skateboarding in Venice Beach, California Feb. 24th 1989 - photographed by:Ithaka Darin Pappas

Presented by
Contact High with support from Mass Appeal and Invictus Black

Curated by
Vikki Tobak; Associate curator: Syreeta Gates

“Contact High” spotlights the photographers who have played critical roles in bringing hip-hop and music culture imagery onto the global stage. Photographers share their era-defining stories’ iconic images, what legendary street photographer Henri Cartier Bresson called ‘The Decisive Moment’. “Contact High” offers a rare glimpse into the creative process and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the imagery that shaped hip-hop and music visual culture. Getting access to the original and unedited contact sheets, we see the ‘big picture’ visual legacy being created. Contact sheets let you look directly through the photographer’s lens and observe all of the other shots taken during these legendary moments.
Hip-hop and rebel cultures have always been about self-definition, especially when it comes to visuals and style. For artists, that one iconic pose, press shot or album cover would play a major role in shaping them into icons by any means necessary—skills, style, swagger, bravado and visuals. Today, the way we digest and create cultural imagery has radically changed. Today’s visual landscape is haphazardly shaped from every direction. The contact sheets reveal how photographers shaped the evolution of a visual cultural phenomenon.
Let’s get analogue for a minute. Contrary to the iPhone’s dominance, film is not dead. In fact, there’s a whole movement of analogue film photographers hashtag bragging: #FilmIsNotDead #35mm #ishootfilm #analogphotography #analogvibes… the list goes on. In this digital age of Instagram and Photoshop, it’s easy to hide imperfections. Analog film reveals beauty and individuality by exposing imperfection and process. There is individualism and eccentricity in every shot, like the dust and grooves of vinyl records. Photographers typically don’t show their contact sheets. It’s their visual diary. Not every shot worked, in fact, most didn’t. Back when every photo was methodically shot on analog film, the negatives on a roll of film would be contact printed on photographic paper allowing you to see the full range of images that would eventually develop into the ‘money shot’.

ORGANIZATION BIO

“Contact High: Hip-Hop’s Iconic Photographs and Visual Culture” spotlights the photographers who have played critical roles in bringing hip-hop and music culture imagery onto the global stage.
The exhibition encompass more than 40 years of history and celebrates what and how photographers saw as hip-hop evolved into a global force. Coinciding with the publication of “Contact High: Hip-Hop’s Iconic Photographs and Visual Culture” (Clarkson Potter/Penguin Random House) to be published fall 2018.

Source: http://photoville.com/contact-high-hip-hops-iconic-photographs-visual-culture/