Daibutsu is a Japanese word meaning literally “Large Buddha” that refers to large statues of the Buddha or one of his various incarnations. The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha in the Kotoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is believed that the statue was originally cast in 1252, following an idea by the priest Joko, who also collected donations to build it. The sculptors were One-Goroemon and Tanji-Hisatomo. The statue is approximately 13.35m tall and weighs approximately 93 tons. The statue is hollow, and visitors can view the interior for 20 Yen a person. The Great Buddha was originally housed in a temple, but this was washed away by a tsunami in 1498. Since then the statue has stood in the open air. Repairs were carried out in 1960-1961, when the neck was strengthened and measures were taken to protect it from earthquakes.
See a little gallery of all the images shot here: Gallery of The Great Buddha (Daibutsu) of Kamakura Images.
Tags: Amida Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, architecture, art, Asia, Asian, bronze, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist temple, building, daibutsu, East Asia, Eastern religion, Edo, faith, famous, Great Buddha, history, holy, Honshu, Honshu Island, icon, Japan, Japanese, Jodo shu, Jodo shu sect, Jodoshu, JP, JPN, Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanto, Kanto Region, Kotoku-in, Kotokuin, landmark, monumental, old, outdoor, religion, sacred, spiritual, statue, temple, travel, worship
The majestic red gums have always appealed to Australians. This river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) near Wilpena Pound, South Australia, was made famous by the photographer Harold Cazneaux who took a picture of it, with the walls of Wilpena Pound as background, in May 1937. He regarded it as his most Australian picture and called it the Spirit of Endurance. It won many awards in Australian and International exhibitions.
In May 1941, Cazneaux wrote:
“This giant gum tree stands in solitary grandeur on a lonely plateau in the arid Flinders Ranges, South Australia, where it has grown up from a sapling through the years and long before the shade from its giant limbs ever gave shelter from the heat to white man. The passing of the years has left it scarred and marked by the elements - storm, fire, water, unconquered it speaks to us of a Spirit of Endurance. Although aged, its widespread limbs speak of a vitality that will carry on for many more years. One day when the sun shone hot and strong, I stood before this giant in silent wonder and admiration. The hot wind stirred the leafy boughs and some of the living elements of this tree passed to me in understanding and friendliness expressing the “Spirit of Australia.”
Cazneaux was born in 1878 in New Zealand of Australian parents. He lived in Adelaide until 1904 and then in Sydney where he died on June 19, 1953. Today this famous tree is known simply as the Cazneaux Tree.
Thursday, February 4, 2010 Posted in Sydney
The Anzac Bridge is the longest span cable-stayed bridge in Australia and it’s spanning Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island in proximity to the central business district (downtown) of Sydney, Australia. The bridge was completed in 1995 to replace the former Glebe Island Bridge, an electrically operated swing bridge in operation since 1901. It was criticized by some as “over-engineered” because of its size - with seven lanes for traffic. The criticism proved unfounded as the bridge was reconfigured for eight traffic lanes in 2005. The bridge was given its current name on Remembrance Day in 1998 to honour the memory of the soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in World War I. An Australian Flag flies atop the eastern pylon and a New Zealand Flag flies atop the western pylon.
More about Anzac Bridge on Wikipedia
Tags: Anzac, Anzac Bridge, AU, Australia, bay, black and white, bridge, bw, cable, cable bridge, cloud, design, flag, Glebe, Glebe Island, Glebe Island Bridge, harbor, harbour, landmark, motion, New South Wales, NSW, Oceania, outdoor, pattern, road, sky, Sydney, tower, travel
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 Posted in Sydney
The Queen Victoria Building, also known as the QVB, has been described by fashion designer, Pierre Cardin as “the most beautiful shopping centre in the world”. It is both a magnificent historical landmark and a shopping paradise. (more…)
Tags: architecture, Australia, Australian, boutique, bright, building, business, buy, cafe, CBD, center, city, dawn, dusk, evening, exterior, famous, fashion, galleria, highlighted, historic, historical, holiday, icon, illuminated, lifestyle, light, lit, mall, market, morning, New South Wales, night, NSW, Oceania, outdoor, people, Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria Building, QVB, restaurant, retail, retailer, sale, sell, shop, shopping, shopping mall, shopwindow, store, sunrise, sunset, Sydney, tourism, tourist, town, travel, urban, walk
Made this photo a three years ago on the last trip to my home city, Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan. The highest mountain on the photo is Small Almaty Peak and it’s 4376m (14,357ft) high. It’s interesting that Small Almaty Peak is actually much higher than High Almaty Peak which is only 3700m (12,139ft) high. The Small Almaty Peak is just much further from the city and therefore looks smaller. Due to its close proximity to Almaty, it is a very popular mountaineering destination. I was there ontop. Once. 
Unforgettable feelings and view.
Tags: Almaty, cliff, glacier, hiking, Kazakhstan, Komsomol, lookout, mountain, Northern Tien-Shan, outdoor, peak, scenery, scenic, snow, sun, sunset, tourist, travel, viewpoint, Zailijsky Alatau
Another shot from Mungo National Park, NSW, Australia. Kind of homage to Ansel Adams with his “Moon Over Half Dome”. Will add more images from this place to my The Walls of China and Mungo National Park Gallery soon. So stay tuned!
By the way. I’ve created a Ilya Genkin: Landscape, Nature, Travel & Fine Art Photography Fan page for my website, to further promote my art & photography. If you’re on Facebook (and who isn’t on FB these days!?) become a fan and check it often. I’m looking to put up some exclusive content on the fan page and welcome your participation.
Tags: arid, Australia, bare, barren, china, climate, color, colour, dawn, desert, desolate, dry, dune, dusk, empty, erosion, far away, getaway, landscape, lifeless, lunette, Moon, Mungo, National, National Park, nature, New South Wales, nobody, NSW, Oceania, outback, park, remote, rock, rugged, sand, scenic, sunrise, sunset, travel, twilight, vertical, walls, wild, wilderness
Unusual view of the Arch as this photo was made from absolutely non touristic spot. Spent about an hour waiting for the light and big nice waves.
Tags: 12 Apostles, arch, attraction, Australia, beach, cliff, cloud, coast, evening, flow, formation, Great Ocean Road, horizontal, landscape, limestone, morning, National Park, ocean, Oceania, Orange, Port Campbell, red, ripple, rock, rocks, sand, scenic, sea, shore, sky, stack, sun, sunlit, sunrise, sunset, tide, tourism, tourist, Twelve Apostles, VIC, Victoria, water, wave, yellow
The much painted and photographed Hopetoun Falls are off the Aire Valley Road, near Beech Forest in the Otway National Park. It is close to both Beauchamp Falls and Triplet Falls so waterfall lovers will have a field day visiting them all. The route to the falls is pretty straight forward and well signed. You can hear the roar of the falls pounding into the Aire River as you arrive in the car park, there is also a view from here. There is a steep path, passing through a glade of tree ferns, to the foot of the falls. Allow about 45 minutes for the 1km return walk.
I was really lucky to shoot this falls as in a few moments the sky cleared and harsh sunlight ruined soft contrast of the rainforest.
PS. Unfortunately the road to the Beauchamp Falls was closed for pubic access at that time so I do not have a photo of it yet.
Tags: Australia, cascades, creek, falls, fern, flow, forest, grass, Great Otway National Park, Hopetoun Falls, National Park, nature, Oceania, Otway, rainforest, river, rock, stream, tree, VIC, Victoria, water, waterfall, wood
One more shot from Mungo National Park, NSW, Australia.
Tags: arid, Australia, bare, barren, china, climate, color, colour, desert, desolate, dry, dune, empty, erosion, far away, getaway, landscape, lifeless, lunette, Mungo, National, National Park, nature, New South Wales, nobody, NSW, Oceania, outback, park, remote, rock, rugged, sand, scenic, sunrise, sunset, travel, vertical, walls, wild, wilderness
Friday, January 22, 2010 Posted in Tokyo
Tokyo Tower is a famous Japanese and Tokyo icon and landmark located in Shiba Park, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. At 332.5 metres (1,091 ft), it is the tallest artificial structure in Japan. Tokyo Tower is 13 meters taller than its model, the Eiffel Tower of Paris, and the world’s tallest self-supporting steel tower. It has been made famous by its appearance in many movies and cartoons. It was completed in the year 1958 as a symbol for Japan’s rebirth as a major economic power, and serves as a television and radio broadcast antenna and tourist attraction.
Visitors can ascend to the main observatory at 150 meters and the special observatory at 250 meters to get a bird’s eye view of Tokyo. Under good weather conditions, Mount Fuji can be seen in the distance. Unfortunately in Tokyo it is not possible to use tripod and black curtain (to get rid of reflections) for photography on any observation deck.
Tokyo Tower on Wikipedia
Tokyo (東京), Kanto (関東地方), Honshu (本州), Japan (日本国)
Tags: architecture, Asia, Asian, attraction, blue, bright, building, business, city, communication, dark, design, detail, downtown, East Asia, Eiffel Tower, evening, France, high, high rise, highlighted, highrise, Honshu, icon, illuminated, infrastructure, iron, ironwork, island, Japan, Japanese, JP, JPN, Kanto, landmark, light, lit, metal, metro, metropolitan, Minato, night, observation deck, observation tower, Paris, red, region, Shiba Park, structure, tall, Tokyo, Tokyo Tower, tourist, tower, town, travel, urban
by Ilya Genkin
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