先生

This assignment goes under the title Portrait of a Japanese Person and when I started thinking about whom I would like o photograph it did not take very long to come up with my answer. Off course I wanted to take the portrait of the Japanese person that has had most impact on me and my life in Japan and my wishes for the future. This person is my ceramics teacher, who has the ability to make clay dance under his skillful hands.

Sensei (先生) has the ability to make you think you can do anything if you just practice and he never says that something is impossible. If you want to try something new, he tells you how to do it without coloring it with his own thoughts or views of how thing should be. He usually have his hands full with work, but some how always manage to take the time to help out when asked. All in all, I consider Sensei to be one of the best teachers I have ever had and I am very grateful to him, for teaching me how to change a little bit of clay and minerals in to whatever form.

When I asked him if I could take the portrait of him he wondered what it was for and I told him that it was for a class assignment, he seamed pleased with the answer. When I later told him that the picture should reflect him as a person he only said "as you like" the same answer that he says when you try to explain an idea that you want some advise on regarding pottery so it was a little bit hard to figure out the best way to take the portrait properly. But at the actual portrait taking day, I had my friend who is much more skillful in Japanese that I by my side and she could convey the "your personality" to Sensei in Japanese and then he said that it might be good to show him working, and I agreed. Since it is the work part of him I know, I figured that it is this side of him I want to show.

I am very pleased by the picture, since it shows Sensei with a small smile that you usually get when you talk to him sometimes, or ask ridiculous questions like "can you mix clay and glaze to make the clay waterproof?" which I am sure he enjoys. This is a salute to my teacher and I can only hope to one day be on his level of skill and knowledge.