詩有可解，不可解，不必解，若水月鏡花，勿泥其跡可也
I come to Kyoto 4 times a year, to pray at my Ancestral Temple, visit my Geisha friends (believe me, we all go to pray at my Ancestral Temple) and tour the many serene gardens and temples. And of course with my beautiful Geisha friends we take souvenir photos at these pretty locations. My Ancestor is being worshipped as the Goddess of Beauty in Kyoto, so I come here to pray for good luck and of course beautiful photos. I usually prefer the less touristy temples for such photo shoots. I have never liked overcrowded places wherever I go. Within temples, strict rules apply, no footwear inside temples, no talking loudly, no flash photography and no tripods. So everything is done using natural lighting only. Here, the Geiko Tomitsuyu sitting serenely by the window. Her pose reminds me of the Goddess Kannon (Avalokiteśvara). I have never asked Tomitsuyu how to pose or what to do in photo shoots and when I saw this photo, I know the Goddess have answered our prayers.
The title of this photo is 镜花水月, the Chinese idiom of “Flowers in a mirror and the Moon’s reflection in water.” - a popular theme in Chinese and Japanese art. This illustrates the idea that something that is beautiful may be an unattainable dream, a mirage. The experience reminds me of an album of the same name by one of my favourite artistes, the late Anita Mui...
仍願信有日有天定尋著所夢見 某角落人群內定能發現有個會愛我的他 仍願信某日某天像河共海遇見 我那滿懷凌亂寂寞很少與倦那個他會幫我逐一改變 抹掉我那秘密淚痕變成這個曾傷的心 愛護我和明白常看似繽紛的我 內心欠缺歡欣和非派對式熱吻...