Some cool News images:

Chigo shasan/syasan – Celestial children visiting Yasaka shrine


Image by Suviko
Yasaka shrine in Kyoto is also know as Gion shrine. During the Gion festival I happened to be there when the chigo, the celestial children of the religious festival, were visiting the shrine in procession. On 13th is Chigo shasan, when the leading child is taken on horseback to Yasaka-jinja to receive divine sanction. He can then perform his ritual duties: cutting the sacred rice rope on the festivals main day so that the parade can enter the spirit realm and tour the city centre.

Nowadays only the Naginata-boko float still carries a child, others have dolls replacing the boys. But there were still two of them – maybe to make sure there’s plan B if the other one has a force majeur situation preventing him from participating in the festivities.

Edit: I found this by Googling: mirahouse.dyndns.org/~mira/kyoto/gion/calendar_e.html
Kuze chigo syasan (14:00) – child of Kuze visit a Yasaka shrine

Kuze Komagata Child’s Visit to Yasaka Shrine: mirahouse.dyndns.org/~mira/kyoto/gion/yasaka/index.html

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An old news article about the heavenly boys of 2005: www.kyoto-np.co.jp/kp/topics/eng/2005jun/06-15.html

Olympics in Barcelona


Image by cliff1066™
1993 Pulitzer Prize, Spot News Photography, Ken Geiger and William Snyder, The Dallas Morning News

In July 1992, 600 photojournalists arrive in Barcelona, Spain, to cover the summer Olympic Games. Some news organizations field dozens of photographers. The Dallas Morning News sends two: William Snyder and Ken Geiger.

For Geiger, photographing the Olympics is "one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Its a marathon for a journalist." Snyder agrees: "Our goal was to be the lead photo on Page One every day…. I remember what it felt like to score a goal or win a race. That’s what I was after, to capture what it felt like and bring it home to the people who look at our pictures. " Geigers finds his first event, mens soccer, "kind of intimidating…. When I edited the film, I was real pleased. I thought "Man I hope I can keep up this pace.’"

The photographers divvy up the events. Snyder gets basketball and diving. "We did what we wanted to do," he says. “We went out there with the idea that not only would we get the moments, but we would also try to shoot things differently."

Geiger covers track and field. He has just finished photographing the U.S. women’s team winning the 4 x 100 relay when he notices the Nigerian women watching the scoreboard. "When it became official that they had third place (a Bronze medal), they broke into celebration. I had to change cameras to one with a shorter lens. Then I took the photo."

East Smithfield and St Katharine’s Dock gates 1978


Image by Danny McL