Takuya Tsukahara
Born in Tokyo in 1937, Tsukahara graduated from the Photography Department of Nihon University College of Art. In 1974, through an invitation by photographer Ansel Adams, he held an exhibition One Certain World at the Sunset Center in Carmel, California. The show subsequently toured around ８ cities in Poland. He lived in France and Poland in 197６ under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Study Program for Artists provided by the Agency of Culture. In 1976, he became a member of EuroPhoto, a European photographers' association, and in 1979, an honorary member of the Union of Polish Art Photographers (ZPAF). He completed his photo shoot for The Mary's Fantasy in 1996. He audienced with Pope John Paul II at Vatican and presentation his portfolio. He was awarded the Polish Republic Gold Medal of Honor in 1992. In 2010, he shot images of ruins heavy industry factories in Poland and exhibited them in a show entitled Silesia at Shadai Gallery at Tokyo Polytechnic University.
- http://fototapeta.art.pl/fti-ttmgp.html
Pilgrimage to the Black Madonna
In our current world filled with economic chaos, terrorism and its reprisals, what I wanted most to photograph was a pilgrimage in Poland. This was because I had never been able to forget the intensity of the pilgrimage I witnessed 22 years ago. It was the last pilgrimage of the socialist era. Poland's Solidarity union and Catholic citizens themselves decided to break away from that time of oppression and the suppression of freedom of speech, and they appealed for an end to their ordeal in a pilgrimage dedicated to a sacred icon painting of the beloved Black Madonna at the Jasna Gora monastery. Today, they have been released from the long nightmare of the 20th century and are finally free. It is my hope that they, of all people, are now able to enjoy the peace.
At the High Mass for the Assumption, held annually on August 15, the faces of the people walking the pilgrimage were marked with bright expressions quite different from 22 years prior. In this pilgrimage, humbly offering gratitude to the Black Madonna—the symbolic mother of Poland who promised freedom to its people—children, old people, young adults, and people in wheelchairs all moved forward while singing along to a rock-style hymn that played from a speaker carried on someone's back. I want their prayers for peace to continue always. With the hope that the 21st century will become a world without war, I joined their pilgrimage.
Feedback on having used 18-270mm (Model B008)
I used Tamron lens for the first time in a series of careful tests in preparation to photograph the pilgrimage, which I knew would take place on rainy days, windy days, under the blazing sun, and inside a dark church. The lens did not feel heavy. The speed of focusing was wonderfully fast, and the beauty of the undistorted horizontal lines was striking. The sharpness and ease of use were of course also excellent, and I was happy to have been able to take memorable pictures with this lens.
