"Umbilicus": Japanese Bellybuttons as seen through the lens of photographer Ithaka Darin Pappas (new book).

 

"Umbilicus"Japanese Bellybuttons. 

The new photography book by Ithaka Darin Pappas

"Chiapas Heart Expedition", new photography book by Ithaka Darin Pappas highlighting Southern Mexico

 "Chiapas Heart Expedition", the new photography book 

by Ithaka Darin Pappas highlighting rural Southern Mexico. 

The street-style travel images were created during a travel 

to remote areas near the Guatemalan border.

Purchasable on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNF94CN1/ref=sr_1_2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.EyZ4O3TBnaHx1q0efMUw2qG2KHqzyun4L5jh9bY7gxoUad09WLfCtpYVH0LEcj5xtB9LeYnzJChQPecwXbFK1NBeVyZETJjlmk6XdwY9DlN3ZiSPb6TFMuzKb1orujNQBMeqYcs1AjfrIpgPa8n2LcaPuJsZni7DBOq7fJVUqzyxI51641q4jBxt_4c3bfRsk4DYK-jGl4qtk8htMkyQ81ELSXtsDReREQIfBZNbTgM.NWSK-vYWGX-VvRUYiooLRxgSAa3TGlvsTjTTj9cpKU4&dib_tag=se&qid=1731952207&refinements=p_27%3AIthaka+Darin+Pappas&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Ithaka+Darin+Pappas

Los Angeles Photographs by Ithaka Darin Pappas

UMBILICUS (127 Japanese navel portraits) by Ithaka Darin Pappas 1992

"UMBILICUS" (the Tokyo  belly-button project)

by artist, Ithaka Darin Pappas 

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"UMBILICUS" by Ithaka Darin Pappas (Japanese belly-button project - 1992) @photographer_ithaka.d.pappas *To schedule this exhibit at a museum or gallery - or for merchandising inquiries, please contact ithaka.official@gmail.com

Although originally conceived in 1988, it wasn’t until the summer of 1992, while briefly living in Japan, that Ithaka Darin Pappas began and completed his photographic project UMBILICUS, a collection of one-hundred and twenty-seven black and white navel portraits. During a period of two months, Ithaka combed the streets of Tokyo is search of willing belly-button subjects.

However, photographing in the light of day, sometimes in the middle of public squares and parks filled with thousands of people, did not prove to be an easy task. Japanese people were quite shy when asked to show their navels in public to a stranger, further complicated by the fact that the photographer was a Gaijin (foreigner).

For this reason some sessions were held in the subjects’ homes or offices after first meeting them in public. Regardless, because of the high rejection rate (10-20 refusals for every one acceptance), sometimes it would take an entire day just to complete the belly-button portrait of only one or two subjects. In addition to the Japanese majority of navels photographed, a percentage of outsiders were also included. These individuals were from Brazil, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United States. Subject ages ranged from three to ninety-six. In addition to the Japanese majority of navels, a percentage of outsiders were also included. People from Brasil, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and the United States. Says Ithaka, “I didn’t photograph tourists for the project, but only actual residents of Tokyo.The foreigners who participated, mostly in their 20s-40s, were all living full-time in Tokyo and held a diverse spectrum of jobs from dishwasher to scientist. Among the Japanese subjects - I photographed the navels of children as young as three (as well as those of their parents) and elderly people too, one in his late 90's. The end result of UMBILICUS wasn’t only a study of human anatomy, but in actuality, concluded in becoming an anthropological observation of Tokyo’s population in 1992."

UMBILICUS was published for the first time in January 1993 in the Japanese edition of the world-renowned fine art photography quarterly called Déja-Vu (Issue #11), the same issue that photographic legends Inose Kou, Frederick Sommer and Nobuyoshi Araki appeared. Other international magazine appearances of UMBILICUS soon followed. In 1995, the rock group Flood (signed to the Portuguese label, União Lisboa) chose images from UMBILICUS to appear on the front and back cover of their debut album, Despertar.

In 1996, the San Francisco culture magazine Speak featured Ithaka’s UMBILICUS as their cover-story. The cover itself (designed by world-famous graphic artist Martin Venesky) was considered controversial, causing the magazine to be returned by many of their distributors. It was the worst-selling issue in the magazine’s history.

Also in 1996, UMBLILICUS was exhibited at Lisbon’s Instituto Português do Juventude, with selected images printed as large as two-meters wide and toned with Ithaka’s trademark deep blues. Later in 1998, UMBILICUS was shown at Galeria Zé dos Bois (ZDB) in Lisbon, as part of Ithaka's larger photographic exhibit entitled, Quality Time. #bellybuttons #photography #ithakadarinpappas ________________________________________________________________ Ithaka is represented by WOA-Way Of Arts (Portugal) and Coffin Alley Gallery (US)

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Photo: Ithaka Darin Pappas © 2018

Note: These images are not Public Domain, it is Necessary to acquire authorization

thru my myself ithaka.official@gmail.com or my representatives at the Tack Artist Agency Group in Los Angeles before reproducing in print, online or merchandising ... thank you.

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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12579280/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1

Inspiring photographers: Shihachi Fujimoto, Bruce Gilden Hisae Imai, Takeji Iwamiya, Akira Komoto, Motoichi Kumagai, Seiji Kurata, Michiko Matsumoto, Aizō Morikawa, Eiichi Moriwaki, Tadayuki Naitoh, Kiyoshi Nishiyama, Yoshino Ōishi, Kōji Satō, Tokihiro Satō, Bukō Shimizu, Mieko Shiomi, Teikō Shiotani, Raghubir Singh, Yutaka Takanashi, Toyoko Tokiwa, Haruo Tomiyama, Kansuke Yamamoto 

"Umbilicus" by photographer Ithaka Darin Pappas (Speak Magazine 1996)

Fall 1996Another relaunch, another controversial cover, another bad issue. The infamous belly button, the work of photographer Ithaka Darin Pappas, caused the issue to be immediately returned by hundreds of distributors and newsstands. The image was most commonly called "disturbing," which is exactly why we chose it. To date, this is Speak's worst-selling issue. ______________________ In 1996 my project Umbilicus was featured on the cover of the cutting edge culture magazine called Speak, with graphic design by the brilliant Martin Venesky.

Ithaka Darin Pappas "Floral Attraction" ©2020

"Floral Attraction" 

a photograph by artist Ithaka Darin Pappas  © 2020

@photographer_ithaka.d.pappas

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Photo: Ithaka Darin Pappas © 2020

Note: This image is not Public Domain, it is Necessary to acquire authorization

 before reproducing in print, online or merchandising.
Please contact ithaka.art@gmail.com - thank you.

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"Taro Reef" surf-oriented photo surrealism by Californian artist, Ithaka (Ithaka Darin Pappas)

"Taro Reef" photo surrealism 

by Californian artist, Ithaka (Ithaka Darin Pappas)

"TARO REEF" - a surrealist photography series by artist: Ithaka (plant waves photographed by Ithaka Darin Pappas in Brazil) The featured images were all photographed at Taro Reef during a single winter season. Taro Reef is located at AkahtiLândia, Ithaka's mini-ranch and art studio situated in the Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Rainforest) in the State of São Paulo (Brazil). Although multiple attempts were made to continue the series, the taro patch at AkahtiLândia (Taro Reef) never again received ideal lighting conditions, nor did the curves of the leaves again emulate ocean waves as they had that one winter. The "Taro Reef" project is uniquely comprised only of the images on this presentation.

Galleries: WOA-Way Of Arts (Europe) Coffin Alley Gallery (North America) Individual works (in order of appearance): "Taro Reef #8" "Taro Reef #9" "Taro Reef #1" "Taro Reef #4" "Taro Reef #5" "Taro Reef #11' "Taro Reef #6" "Taro Reef #3" "Taro Reef #7" "Taro Reef #10" "Taro Reef #2" _____________________________________________________ For prints, exhibits or licensing inquiries please contact: ithaka.official@gmail.com Direction and edit: Ithaka ©2019 Sweatlodge Films Song: Ithaka "Liquid Harmonics" album, Voiceless Blue Raven II Note: all images in this presentation are under U.S. Federal and international copyrights ©2015, ©2019 #Ithaka #IthakaDarinPappas #fotografiasurreal

CONTACT HIGH: 40 años del hip-hop capturados en imágenes (Eazy E fotos: Ithaka Darin Pappas)

40 años del hip-hop capturados en imágenes

‘Contact High: The Visual History of Hip-Hop’ abarca 40 años con casi 200 imágenes de más de 50 fotógrafos.

Redacción ADN40
jueves 18, octubre 2018
@adn40

Foto: Joe Conzo, Jr.

"El hip-hop introdujo tantos cambios sociales, culturales y políticos que obligó a las instituciones y guardianes de nuestra sociedad a aceptarlo y reconocerlo", dijo Marcyliena Morgan, directora fundadora del Instituto de Investigación y Archivo Hiphop de la Universidad de Harvard y rescatado en un artículo publicado en el The New York Times.

Si bien algunos raperos de hoy en día son magnates de los medios de comunicación, los primeros años también tuvieron una motivación poderosa: el amor por el oficio. "En los viejos tiempos, la gente lo hacía porque era su pasión", dijo Janette Beckman, quien creó imágenes memorables de Run-DMC, Slick Rick y otras estrellas prometedoras. . “No lo hacían para ser millonarios. Parte de esa pureza y espíritu todavía existe de la misma manera”.

En ‘Contact High: The Visual History of Hip-Hop’ (Clarkson Potter), Vikki Tobak ha reunido relatos narrados por los mismos creadores de imágenes que ayudaron a moldear la cultura del género musical, descubriendo historias y lecciones en esas hojas.

El libro abarca 40 años con casi 200 imágenes de más de 50 fotógrafos, destacando la evolución de la fotografía hip-hop de analógica a digital e incluye historias personales de pioneros como Joe Conzo Jr., Jamel Shabazz, Martha Cooper, Ithaka Darin Pappas y Ernie Paniccioli, junto con la última generación, Cam Kirk y Jorge Peniche.

Se incluyen sesiones de fotos clásicas, hojas de contacto e historias detrás de escena de Barron Clairborne, Al Pereira y Lisa Leone, así como un prólogo de Rootss Questlove.

http://www.adn40.mx/noticia/cultura/nota/2018-10-18-11-11/40-anios-del-hip--hop-capturados-en-imagenes/

Rare photos of Eazy E by Ithaka Darin Pappas at 2017 Photoville, Brooklyn

[Contact High: Hip-Hop’s Iconic Photographs and Visual Culture]

Rapper, Eazy E skateboarding in Venice Beach, California Feb. 24th 1989 - photographed by:Ithaka Darin Pappas

Presented by
Contact High with support from Mass Appeal and Invictus Black

Curated by
Vikki Tobak; Associate curator: Syreeta Gates

“Contact High” spotlights the photographers who have played critical roles in bringing hip-hop and music culture imagery onto the global stage. Photographers share their era-defining stories’ iconic images, what legendary street photographer Henri Cartier Bresson called ‘The Decisive Moment’. “Contact High” offers a rare glimpse into the creative process and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the imagery that shaped hip-hop and music visual culture. Getting access to the original and unedited contact sheets, we see the ‘big picture’ visual legacy being created. Contact sheets let you look directly through the photographer’s lens and observe all of the other shots taken during these legendary moments.
Hip-hop and rebel cultures have always been about self-definition, especially when it comes to visuals and style. For artists, that one iconic pose, press shot or album cover would play a major role in shaping them into icons by any means necessary—skills, style, swagger, bravado and visuals. Today, the way we digest and create cultural imagery has radically changed. Today’s visual landscape is haphazardly shaped from every direction. The contact sheets reveal how photographers shaped the evolution of a visual cultural phenomenon.
Let’s get analogue for a minute. Contrary to the iPhone’s dominance, film is not dead. In fact, there’s a whole movement of analogue film photographers hashtag bragging: #FilmIsNotDead #35mm #ishootfilm #analogphotography #analogvibes… the list goes on. In this digital age of Instagram and Photoshop, it’s easy to hide imperfections. Analog film reveals beauty and individuality by exposing imperfection and process. There is individualism and eccentricity in every shot, like the dust and grooves of vinyl records. Photographers typically don’t show their contact sheets. It’s their visual diary. Not every shot worked, in fact, most didn’t. Back when every photo was methodically shot on analog film, the negatives on a roll of film would be contact printed on photographic paper allowing you to see the full range of images that would eventually develop into the ‘money shot’.

ORGANIZATION BIO

“Contact High: Hip-Hop’s Iconic Photographs and Visual Culture” spotlights the photographers who have played critical roles in bringing hip-hop and music culture imagery onto the global stage.
The exhibition encompass more than 40 years of history and celebrates what and how photographers saw as hip-hop evolved into a global force. Coinciding with the publication of “Contact High: Hip-Hop’s Iconic Photographs and Visual Culture” (Clarkson Potter/Penguin Random House) to be published fall 2018.

Source: http://photoville.com/contact-high-hip-hops-iconic-photographs-visual-culture/

N.W.A. 1990 - Photographed In Los Angeles By Ithaka

Image of gangster rap legends Eazy E (1962-1995), 

Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Yella and MC Ren

on the set of the video for their song 100 Miles and Runnin' 

[Downtown LA - in 1990]. Photograph by Ithaka.

Ice Cube - Hollywood, California - 1990

Publicity shoot I did of Ice Cube for his debut solo album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted on the roof of the

Publicity shoot I did of Ice Cube for his debut solo album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted on the roof 

of the Priority Records building 

on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. 

Painting in the backdrop is by artist Michelle Marini.

Eazy E - Downtown los Angeles - Photo: Ithaka

Image I made of legendary rapper Eazy E (1962-1995)

on the set of the video for NWA's 100 Miles and Runnin' 

[downtown LA - in 1990].

 

Ithaka Exhibit: City Life: Greed, Hunger and Loss

ASAHI EVENING NEWS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1992

               Fine Arts

City  Life:  Greed,  Hunger and  Loss

By M. Jordan

Special to the Asahi Evening News

   The work now being shown at Galerie YMA in Tokyo, is that of photographer/sculptor, Ithaka.  Although these two mediums seem at first glance to be separate entities, these photos show that the two seem to go hand in hand.  The photographs are a journey into the mysteries of emotions.  When looking at them you cannot help but get caught up into the feelings they conjure; happiness, remorsefulness, confusion unknowingness, mournfulness.

 Ithaka enables the viewer to take a look into the world (perhaps his own hermetic world) of bottled up emotions.  His work is truly personal, his subjects are close friends of his, yet one doesn't feel left out when viewing them.

  Ithaka began assisting photographers at a very young age and shortly thereafter went out on his own.  He has shot photographs for nearly every fashion magazine including, Vogue, Elle and Glamour, and has also shot the record covers for many bands.  The problem for Ithaka was that working specific photograph jobs compromised him from the start.  He began doing sculptures as a way to take a break from the rigors of the job.

   The sculptures used in the photos are cut and restructured surfboards.  All have taken on a new form as well as a new life, displaying the forms of the human body (usually female) as well as Ithaka's own creations.  Before restrictions had been placed on him as to how he could shoot his photos; he had been forced to take a back seat.  Now what he was yearning for was to create his own type of photographs.  He son began to fuse the two mediums, hence coining his own term "sculptography."

   Although Ithaka (Ithaka darin Pappas) was born and raised in Los Angeles, the city proved to have too strong of an impact on his work.  Los Angeles was too overbearing; and he no longer wanted to struggle against the Los Angeles mindset that declares its self to be the center of the globe.  This Los Angeles mindset is perfectly encapsulated in his sculptures shown in this exhibit, entitled "Greed, Hunger, Loss," all representing aspects typical of any metropolis.

   His photos also show the lost feelings that are hard to recover when living in a big city, yet they always remind us of why this loss occurs.  Lying peacefully stretched out in the sand we are mesmerized by the serenity of "Joni by the Sea," yet down below the rocky cliff reality sets in showing what the city is all about--we see a Mercedes and a Lamborghini on the highway below.  Our illusion is shattered and we are immediately pulled back into the present.

 Ithaka 's search for eternal well being has led him to Lisbon, Portugal where he is now based.  Portugal offers him a new outlook on life,.  According to Ithaka, "life here is more simple, when you're in a place like this -- life is about you and the people around you, not the world at large."  One has to wonder where this new exploration will now take him, or us.

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Works by Ithaka at Galerie YMA

(03-3562-0007 on Suzurandori in Ginza near Ginza subway station through Oct.7. 

The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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