Longevity

I had the location pretty much to myself for two hours, which for a torii this well known is not something I expected. One group of young people turned up, took their photographs, and left.

I’d gone out for this specifically. My wife stayed back in Kyoto and I took the train up to Takashima and walked from the station along the shore to the shrine. Shirahige is associated with long life — I’d read that while planning the shoot, and it’s where the title comes from.

I worked two angles all evening. This is the three-quarter view, shot a little after sunset while there was still pink in the sky; the dead-on frame came later, well into blue hour, and became Into Aether. Fifteen seconds flattens Lake Biwa to nothing and leaves the gate standing in what looks more like vapour than water. I kept going until the blue hour was gone.

Getting back, I lost the path in the dark and ended up on a farm road with no idea which way the station was, navigating by the light and sound of trains coming and going until I’d worked out which paths to take.