Hello, this is Machuko, the admin.
Today, I would like to introduce a movie created by Mr. mookio, a Taiwanese photographer who also appears in GRist section, and his comments on the movie.
As a photographer who loves Japan, he talks about what the GR III and GR IIIx mean to him, and about Japan
Enjoy the movie!
Hello, GR fans in Japan and in the world. I am mookio Chen, a photographer from Taiwan. I have been in love with this compact camera ever since I had my GR DIGITAL in 2008. I have published seven photography books in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China with GR photographs. GR has been my most trusted creative partner.
Since 2013, I have been traveling to Japan. I often stay in Tokyo, Kyoto and other places. During my long-term stay in Kyoto, every morning, I would wake up, get out of the blanket, rinse my mouth, change my clothes, put on my brand new sneakers and go out with my GR. Under the clear blue sky and in the slightly hot sunlight, I would ride my bicycle, pedal hard and slowly run through the street. When I got to a gentle down slope, I would slide down it quickly, and then turn left to accelerate the bicycle, which made my spirit awake.
I love Kyoto so much that I have published a photography book "Kyoto 35" and have held solo exhibitions at Eslite Bookstore and FNAC in Taiwan to share with photo lovers my daily happiness I had in Kyoto. When they asked me which camera I had used to take these photos, I would proudly take out the GR from my pocket and tell them how important it is to choose a camera that suits your needs.
Every GR owner has his/her own story and I am no exception.
When I was choosing my camera, I had a definite concept in my mind that it had to be portable, high-definition, easy to use, and able to record my daily life anywhere, anytime, which turned out to be the GR.
After owning the GR, I have been accumulating photos with daily life as the main core, and have been traveling and taking photos everywhere. I never try to take amazing photos, but simply to keep images of beautiful things that I encounter.
In the process of using the GR, I have never thought of using my photos for competitions, magazines, or commercial purposes. "Keeping it simple"- observing people and things around you, and recording moments by clicking the shutter- can really help you get more out of it.
Through the Ricoh GR Club on Facebook that I've been organizing for more than 10 years and GR workshops organized by the long-time partner WZC- GR dealer in Taiwan-, we have met many GR fans in Taiwan who simply love to take pictures. We often meet up in photogenic areas in Taipei, Taichung or Tainan to walk and chat while taking pictures.
What is special about GR? Simply put, it allows us to focus on photography itself, exploring what you see and what you capture, rather than being trapped in a cycle of buying equipment. I always feel that it is great to get together with friends who share the same interest through GR. I hope that someday, GRists in both Taiwan and Japan can have a joint photo walk.
It was not until many years later that I opened "William Eggleston's Guide", published in 1976, in which I saw, at first glance, seemingly mundane photographs of a garage, a living room, a dinner, a dog drinking on the roadside, a master and a servant driving to a lake, a girl in a cabin, etc., showing the scenes of a small, quiet town in the Southern United States. Those casual, everyday style of photographs do not emphasise the technicality of photography, but rather share the stories he sees. The 48 photographs in this book have become a classic of color photography today.
When I traveled with GR in Tokyo and Kyoto, I recorded my personal expression from a photographer's point of view through photography, and pursued the same thing- to make my photographs a unique 'personal documentary'- so that those who view them can also immerse themselves in the emotional memory of the photographs.
This time, I have made a video on GR to present my process of shooting with the GR in a more interesting way, from explanation of the settings, GR III and GR IIIx works, to explanation of the concepts, all in as short as 8 minutes. The second video on GR street photography is currently under production, which I believe will be a great way to bring GR lovers together to enjoy the joy of taking photos.
mookio Chen (阿默)
mookio likes to take photos with small cameras, and shares the joy of everyday snapshots at various photo seminars. He has published seven technical books on photography, including "GR Digital: 極致的浪漫 (Ultimate Romance)" and RICOH GR 攝影的真言 (The True Words of Photography), and was selected as an Eslite TOP 100 Best Seller in 2010 2012, Best 12 Contemporary Photos in 2014, and Professional Writer Awards in 2015 and 2017. He is well known to GR fans as the founder of the Facebook Page 'Ricoh GR 浪漫隨手拍 (Romantic Snapshots)'.
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（原文）
各位喜歡GR的日本朋友，你好，我是來自台灣的攝影師 mookio阿默，從2008年接觸GR DIGITAL開始，就徹底喜歡上這一台隨身的相機，也透過GR的拍攝，在台灣、香港與中國出版了七本攝影書籍，GR已經是我最信任的創作夥伴。
從2013年開始，我開始熱愛前往日本旅遊，經常停留在東京、京都等地，每天早晨起床，俐落的翻出被窩，漱口水，換下睡衣，套上嶄新的運動鞋出門，清澈的藍天和微熱的陽光合而為一，騎著腳踏車，用力踩著踏板慢慢穿過大街，遇見緩緩的斜坡輕快的下滑過去，轉角左轉的加速度，令精神的清醒了起來。
因為太喜歡京都這座城市，我也為它出版了一本攝影書「Kyoto 35 默拍京都」，並在台灣的誠品書店、法雅客舉辦了攝影個展，與喜歡拍照的朋友分享日常的快樂；當他們詢問我，是用哪一台相機拍照的? 我都會很自豪從口袋中拿出GR，跟他們述說選一台適合自己的相機，是多重要的一件事情。
每個人擁有GR都會有一個故事，我也不例外。
當初我在挑選相機時，心中有著確定的概念，如果有一台隨身輕便、高畫質、操作性強的相機，能夠能隨時隨地的記錄日常生活，就是最適合我的相機，最終的選擇就是GR。
擁有了GR之後，以日常為主軸的照片就快速的累積，到處旅遊，到處拍攝，從來沒有以拍出驚人照片為志向，只是單純想將眼前覺得美的事物留影。
使用GR的過程中，沒有想過攝影作品可以參加比賽、雜誌投稿、或是更多的商業用途，「保持單純」真的可以讓你獲得更多的東西，除了觀察身邊的人事物，也藉由著按下快門，記錄此時此刻的景象。
透過經營FB的Ricoh GR社團，還有與富堃長期的GR課程合作，認識了許多台灣的GR粉絲，這一群單純喜歡拍照的朋友們，常喜歡相約在台北、台中、台南等富有風情的街道，一邊散步聊天、一邊拍照遊玩。
GR有甚麼魅力呢? 簡單來說，就是讓我們專注在攝影本身，探討你看見了甚麼，並拍下了甚麼，而不必陷入購買器材的迴圈。經常覺得透過GR能夠把相同喜好的朋友，聚在一起拍照，真的是很美好的事情，希望有天，台灣與日本的GRist也能有場共同的散步寫真。
直到多年以後，我翻著William Eggleston《Guide》1976年出版的攝影集，乍看之下，平凡無奇的瑣碎日常，家裡的車庫、客廳、晚餐、路邊喝水的狗、主僕兩人開車到湖邊，小木屋的女孩等照片，表現出美國南方平靜小鎮的景象，看似日常隨意的拍攝風格，不強調攝影的技術性，而是共享他所看見的故事內涵，直到今日，書中的48張照片成為彩色攝影的經典。
當我帶著GR旅行在東京、京都，透過拍攝，記錄以攝影師的觀點記錄我個人的表達，也是追求同樣的事情，將照片成為屬於獨一無二的「私人寫真」，讓觀看照片的人，也能沉浸照片的情感記憶。
這次製作了GR的影片，能更加有趣的呈現我使用GR拍攝的過程，從GR設置講解、GR III 和 GR IIIx拍攝作品，以及攝影觀念的說明，都在短短的8分鐘的影片裡呈現，而目前第二支GR街頭拍攝的影片，也在討論製作中，相信能夠帶給喜歡GR的朋友，享受一同拍照的樂趣。
