Uchujin: Charlie “Two Cute Dogs” Kirk – A Documentary
The above video was produced by Tokyo-based photographer Adrian Storey. Read Adrian’s explanation below of the making of the video and see the original post on Uchujin-The Blog.
I am an English photographer and filmmaker who has been living in Tokyo for the past five years. I have been taking photographs for almost 20 years and began seriously making films a year ago after working as the director of photography on a documentary shot in Berlin. I started my blog in 2008 as a platform to show my photography and filmmaking separate from my main website.
A few months ago I had just finished a fiction short film project and was talking to a friend about what I wanted to do next. The friend suggested making a documentary on Charlie Kirk, a mutual friend of ours who was a photographer we had befriended within the previous six months or so. At first I didn’t really like the idea, but as we talked more and I thought about Charlie’s personality, his style of street photography and his outspoken and controversial views it began to make sense.
When I first approached Charlie about the idea he was a little reticent, but after seeing my other work and a lot of convincing over many beers he agreed. Initially with some outrageous conditions that then took further negotiation to clarify, until finally an agreement was reached. And so I began filming him on the street, in bars and at his home.
The short documentary “Two Cute Dogs” is the result of that process.
-Adrian Storey
You can see more of Adrian’s work on his site www.uchujin.co.uk and you can see Charlie’s work on Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/charlie_kirk.
Uchujin, I appreciate at lot of your work. Your film on the Japanese imam was spectacular. As for Charlie Kirk, he’s a flash in the pan. His ego is almost too big for the planet, it’s certainly too big for Japan. It’s hilarious, sadly to watch him get aggressive with his subjects, be they nutty Japanese right-wingers or school girls. Now the guy is teaching and hosting workshops?
I have to agree with the previous comment! I cannot honestly understand how people can find that kind of work appealing and worth of much attention (a DOCUMENTARY on THAT guy??). those 12 minutes could have been dedicated to something a bit less obnoxious …
I know ‘de gustibus non est disputandum’, and everyone is entitled to like – or dislike – anything they please, but i do not feel it is right to encourage that type of aggressive, ‘in your face’, photography.
only my personal opinion !!
Hey Nathan – just so you know, I am a humble guest speaker at Eric Kim’s workshop in Tokyo this December. I’ll just be showing some pictures for an hour. Not teaching or hosting it. The workshop is designed for beginners – feel free to come. Cheers.
I really like Charlie’s work. There’s something about the element of surprise in his images that resonates for me: his choice of subjects, their expression, the composition. But mostly for how they reflect something emotional about what it’s like to be a human right now (or at least a Japanese human – I’d love to see Charlie walk the streets elsewhere).
I can understand why people don’t like his photographs. They don’t necessarily fall within the bounds of what is conventionally considered ‘beautiful’. But they definitely do take a place in a photographic tradition (Gilden, Winograd et. al.) that has concerned itself with how to capture the crazy stream of life we’re part of. I’ve always been curious about how Charlie worked and so really appreciate this documentary. His style doesn’t seem too intrusive and he was at least willing to engage personally with his subjects, rather than photograph them from an annoymous distance. This is a skill in iteself.
So thanks Adrian for the doco, and Charlie for your photos. Look forward to seeing more from both of you.
Photographers like Charlie Kirk are the reason why street photography gets such a bad rap. When you talk to people about street photography they always say… “oh, those guys are a bunch of jerks.”
Just watching this video you get the abrasive nature of this photographer and other like him. Do people need to act like an asshat just to seem cool today. What happened to the humble street photographer like Cartier-Bresson who went about his way in life capturing real moments around him. He didn’t need to influence his subjects by jumping in front of them with a flash just to capture a reaction. There was a style and grace to street photography that fortunately other photographers still embody.
I was so looking forward to attending that workshop in Japan but if he’s one of the presenters… forget it. I might as well tag along with a paparazzi since their abrasive style is the same as this photographers.
Charlie Kirk is simply the Sarah Palin of the internet based amateur street photography scene. Fellow followers of his twitter feed must understand that his comically egregious approach to self promotion and photography overshadows the fact that he really has nothing to say other than “look at me”.
I like the photos. The way to get them it depends of each one… Bruce Gilden does the same, and he´s a Magnum photographer…
In my case, I´m in the middle… No tele and no so agressive way like Charlie… Sometimes I ask, sometimes no… Cheers
Hey Rich.
Would be nice if you could have signed with Twitter or Facebook so people could know who you are. I do think it’s appropriate to reveal your identity when you make negative comments about people. Hiding like you are doing is a little cowardly maybe.
Anyway. In terms of self promotion, as has been the case with the previous Leica Blog entry about me and the Eric Kim interview, I was approached. I have never once contacted a blogger to ask them to feature me. But if someone does want to feature me I usually say yes.
In terms of my photography, I agree with you. I have very little to say about it.
Cheers.
Usually i do not like “absolut sentences” and do not like any aggressive style, both in life and in photography. But looking at his flickr collection there are some interesting photos.
robert