“I see reality in another way with a camera. Looking through the lens, I peer into another world… For me, the camera is simply an excuse to learn.”

“Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide” by Isabel Quintero

I know I should really be writing about the “Rakugo& Tsugaru Shamisen” performance and my recent visit to a retirement home where I performed Rakugo for 90 year-old plus audience.

But I wanted to record this thought before I lose it.

The other day when I was browsing through a graphic novel about Graciela Iturbide, I stumbled upon the quote above.

I am not sure if it was an exact utterance by Iturbide, but it really explained why I have been pursuing Rakugo, very much a minority art, alone in New Zealand.

Allow me to heavily plagiarise…

it surely isn’t plagiarism as long as I mention the source, right?

The reason I do Rakugo is because…

I see reality in another way with Rakugo. Looking through the Rakugo stories, I peer into another world… For me, Rakugo is simply an excuse to learn.

I finally understood why.