Kimono Hime - a magazine love affair

When I left Japan I wanted to buy myself a present with the book voucher I won during a staff end of year party. I'd saved that voucher for over a year and when the time came to spend it I wanted something worth keeping , besides , I couldn't read well enough to buy a Japanese book anyway.

 I found Kimono Hime on the magazine racks amongst the anime and cutesy teenage mags. Kimono Hime is a magazine dedicated entirely to the beautifulness of kimono. I love love love this magazine so much, especially the design and photography not to mention the countless kimonos that leave me in awe of this Japanese national costume. 

While living in Japan I saw hundreds of kimonos and yukata (summer kimono) and the most beautiful thing about them was that I never saw two that were the same.

Cut back to 2010 where I was delighted to find Kanga Kanga  in Bourke street who could supply me with my Kimono Hime copies. The latest one arrived last week. Unfortunately it doesn't come out regularly , only once or twice a year, so this kimono fanatic will have to be patient...or go ahead and order all the issues I've missed out on! Until then, have a peek into the pages Kimono Hime. (please excuse the poor quality pictures ... I don't own a scanner )

ps Kimono Hime means princess  <3 

Magazine Rack

I am a lover of magazines. I always have been since I first laid my eyes on Smash Hits, TV Hits, Dolly and Girlfriend at the teeny age of 13. Posters of pop stars & fashion shoots were the main attraction to these teen magazines. Now I read all sorts, from Frankie to Vogue to Conde Nast Traveler to National Geographic to Purple or copies of Elle that my sister sends over from the UK. I could spend hours flicking through the pages of these glossy purse friendly books oohing and ahhing over the photographs which is why the magazine stand is today's photo. 

I created this warped effect by decreasing the shutter speed to 1/13th then zooming in and out with my lens while holding the shutter release button down. Then I added a slight pinky tinge later on.