In March 2023, I took the GR IIIx on an expedition to climb Annapurna, a mountain in Nepal. I did not take it to the summit, but used it for a diary at the base camp at an altitude of 4,200 meters.

Although I mainly use film cameras, I often take a compact digital camera like this on expeditions to extreme regions.

I often photograph things I see and the scenery I pass that day as notes so I don't forget.

For a camera that I use casually on a daily basis, I prefer a camera that responds quickly and is easy to use, and the GR is no exception. The GR is also perfect for showing photos to friends on the camera's display.

In the mountains, the weight of a camera can be a real problem. So the GR, which can be carried in a pocket, is surprisingly useful in many ways. Some of the mountain movies in this video (SENSE) were shot long ago using the video function of a GR DIGITAL.

Now that I am preparing for my summer expedition to Pakistan, I am thinking of carrying this GR in my pocket to record the small events of my daily life.

In fact, I know from my past experiences that such photos will be very important in later years.


NAOKI ISHIKAWA
Naoki Ishikawa was born in Tokyo in 1977 and completed a latter doctoral program at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. Interested in anthropology and ethnology, he has traveled widely, visiting every kind of environment, from urban to remote regions, creating outstanding works along the way. In 2008 he won the Newcomer's Award from the Photographic Society of Japan and the Kodansha Publication Culture Award for Photography for his NEW DIMENSION (AKAAKA Art Publishing) and POLAR (Little More Co., Ltd.). In 2011 he received the Domon Ken Award for his CORONA (Seidosha) and in 2020 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Photographic Society of Japan for his EVEREST (CCC Media House) and MAREBITO (Shogakukan Inc.). He has also written numerous books, including The Last Adventurer (Shueisha Inc.) for which he received the Kaiko Takeshi [Non-Fiction] Award. A large-scale solo exhibition, “Capturing the Map of Light on this Planet,” that opened at the Art Tower Mito, Ibaraki, in 2016 went on to travel to the Niigata City Art Museum; Ichihara Lakeside Museum; the Museum of Art, Kochi; the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, and the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. A photobook of the same name was also published. His latest publications include Kangchenjunga (POST-FAKE) and Manaslu 2022 edition (SLANT).
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