JAPAN THROUGH
T H E L E N S: Capturing precious moments in my camera Laura Pueringer (Akita)
Living in Akita Prefecture for the second time in my life, I have found inspiration in just about everything I see around me. The trees in Akita seem greener than anything I’ve ever seen before. The air is clean and crisp. The people are kind and caring. The mountains are always in the distance, begging for adventurers to give them a climb. The crows are loud and unapologetically present in a glorious way. Life here is so much like life back home, and yet so different at the same time. I grew up never without a pencil in my hand and notebook in my bag. As college came and went, I realized I had fallen out of touch with my artistic side. After first coming to Akita four years ago for study abroad, I found myself constantly inspired and excited by the world around me. When I spoke with loved ones back home, I realized that I couldn’t quite convey the beauty of the place I was living in, so I started to take pictures to share with them. I started off using just my phone camera, and slowly evolved into a bigger and better camera. As I tried to capture the scenery around me, I began to connect with the side of me I had lost in the hurry of trying to get somewhere fast.
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Tohoku has become my second home, and I want to slow down and appreciate every moment while it lasts. Although I am new to photography, I’ve found a great amount of love for it. There is something so magical and amazing about being able to share my stories through the photos I’ve taken. My tales of living in Japan seem so much more concrete and tangible when there is imagery to go with them. In my photography, I want to capture moments in time as I see them. I have developed a love for traveling and experiencing new places, foods, and traditions everywhere I go. I take photos of the things I do so that I can not only share them with others, but also to be able to preserve my memories in a physical way. When I look back on photos I’ve taken, sometimes I remember details I had forgotten, or I can relive the moment I took the photo. I take photos of nature and places mostly, although my love for Akita
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