Vermillion Life Force

A colour believed to ward off demons, disease, and bad luck.

2024 December  ◬  34.9929574, 135.7848701
An hour of staring up at the roof details. My neck was asking for a change in perspective. You just can't look away from this level of craft. The edges are massive. Thousands of pounds of cypress bark shingles packed together. So tightly they look like the dark, heavy hide of an ancient reptile. Asleep on the mountain. If you step closer, you find a very fragile world. Shadow and light reveal imposing geometry. Black and gold paint flaking off in tiny uneven islands. Losing a decades-long war against the element of nature. Cloud blocked sun turns the courtyard into a perfect shadowless studio. Every crack in the timber. Every patch of moss resting on tiles. Suddenly more sun. Welcoming warmth to the day. The shutter continues performing. I capture every inch. Four-hundred-year-old carpentry meets the sky. Vermillion is the red clinging to surfaces. Derived from the mineral cinnabar. Possess purifying properties. Also in folklore, evil spirits can only travel in rigid, straight paths. The organic, sweeping curvature of the roofline confuses. Coaxes negative energy away from the building. This gentle slope. I hear it mimics the sweeping silhouette of elegant Heian-period court robes. And wings of ascending birds.