Izumi Tanaka

Back in the fall, Dr. Sherie Zander contacted me to photograph her home as she and her husband decided to put their home on the market.  She wanted to create a photo book of her home so she can memorialize the memories and history that she accumulated over 40 years she lived there.

On the morning I was schedule to photograph Sherie’s house, I dreamed about “wings.”  I was choosing between gold wings and silver ones.  Intrigued upon awakening, I made a mental note to pay attention to “wings” that day.

Sure enough, as I arrived at Sherie’s home in Brentwood, I ran into a stone statue of an angel in her front yard.  ”Isn’t that nice?” I thought to myself thinking I somehow connected with this angel in my dream before I got here.  Then as I entered her house and started photographing the interiors, I noticed angels were everywhere in this house; angels of all sizes and styles with gold wings, silver wings, and other color wings!  Now, I was really tickled.

Then we decided to take some pictures of Sherie on her sofa reading the Bible, a favorite routine of Sherie.  She opened to a passage rather randomly and started reading out loud:

“I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.” [Exodus 23:20]

Both Sherie and I rejoiced to get that message as we were both going to look for a new home.  Of course, by then I was quite taken by the angels and wings, very curious what angels were trying to tell me.

After a long day of shooting, I went to a fundraising event at another photographer friend’s house.  As I walked in, again I noticed a few angels hanging on the walls and from the ceiling.  In her photo studio, she even had a set of fake wings that she uses for children’s portraits.  ”Gosh, more angels!”

So at the end of the fundraising event, I went to the powder room.  As I’m sitting on the toilet, I looked up and saw a picture on the wall in front of me that finally gave me the message:   “Your wings already exist.  All you have to do is FLY.”  

See the photo book of Sherie’s home, “House of Angels.”

E.J. Katigbak is a hypnotherapist based in Santa Monica.  But really, he’s an angel in making.  I say that not because I see those little wings growing on his back but I was touched by his profound desire to help heal the humanity.

E.J. is a former Marine, with years of service in the United States Military since 1993.  He joined the Army out of high school so he can get the education.  He was in the Navy stationed in Mayport, Florida when America was attacked on September 2001 and 6 months later got deployed to Afganistan for the first time.  He then transferred to the Marine in 2006.  During the 12 years of service, he was deployed all together five times including 2 tours in Iraq.  Just as thousands of other service men and women, E.J. experienced severe post-traumatic disorder syndrome after returning to his civilian life: having extreme difficulty dealing with a day-to-day life as a civilian.  After going to V.A. Hospital for counseling and support for months and not seeing much relief, he discovered hypnotherapy.  It was hypnotherapy that helped him to be able to go out in the world without being on a constant alert and able to interact with the society as an ordinary citizen in a “relatively peaceful” world.  That’s how he found his calling to be a healer himself.  He took on the training to become a hypnotherapist and more trainings in neuro linguistics as well as Angel Therapy with Doreen Virtue.

What strikes me about E.J. the most is that I can sense his innocence behind his quiet yet intense presence.  There is that piece of him that did not get scarred by the unfathomable experiences in the war zones — that part of him genuinely and desperately wants to help others to find the peace like he did.  I can’t speak for him, but I’m sure the horrific memories still affect him just as they do thousands of men and women who return from the war.  I think his vulnerability gives him the strength to treat people with such deep compassion because he “knows,” and that’s why  I think he’s a big angel in the making…  His wings are growing day by day.

I’ve been listening to his audio recording he made for me every night, and I dream about angels…

Happy New Year!

I had a peaceful and restful holiday season and feeling motivated for this powerful year of Dragon.

Out of 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac, Dragon is the only “mythological” creature being the most powerful and divine. So Dragon years are supposed to be particularly auspicious for new businesses, marriages, and children and good for boosting individual fortune and world economy. (The creature in the image above is a different mythological creature called, “Qilin or Kirin (yes, like the Japanese beer).”

My friend, Janet Mitsui-Brown, who is a Feng Shui expert, tells me it would be a good idea to keep a rooster around to counteract the potency of Dragon this year.

I’m looking forward to challenges and adventures!

O.K. It’s going too fast! Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching us.

Well, it is indeed time to give Thanks.

I am truly grateful for all the opportunities I had this year to photograph some beautiful homes.

Especially, I give thanks to the Kreher family in Santa Monica, who generously commissioned me to capture their art-filled home.
They are not only passionate art collectors but more importantly supporter of local artists. Their home is literally covered with paintings, sculptures, and other objects of art, most of which come with interesting personal stories.

To see more of this home, click here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s bitter sweet.

The kids grew up in this house.

It’s a house tucked away in the hills of Topanga Canyon.

You can almost see little Taylor and Brook running through the hills all around the house.

They always had friends and families, kids from the neighborhood coming through those back door to play and hang out.

Now, Taylor is out of college and married on the East Coast and Brook is up north embracing his brand-new college life, it is time for Val and James to move on. They are about to leave this memory-filled home of 20 some years and rent it out.

Impermanence. This is how it goes. Though there’s certainly a tinge of sadness this family house is going to be vacated to welcome the new happy occupants, it is also an exciting new chapter for everyone involved.  Whatever the reason, it’s a good idea to secure your precious memories of your family home in photographs.

May our life continue to be a wonderful adventure now and for ever!

To see more of this house, click here. To get more information about the lease, contact the listing agent, Chryssa Lightheart.

It was a busy summer, and I was fortunate enough to have some great projects to shoot.
One of them was this West Hollywood townhouse unit designed by Frank Slesinski.

Being a Japanese native, I have a nostalgic affinity to Japanese antiques and am always insterested in how they find homes in the Western environment. Frank has perfectly integrated the Asian touch in his elegantly put together kitchen and dining with Japanese “tansu”s mixed with other Western pieces. I was particularly awe struck by how he took a classic Mizuya (kitchen cabinet) he got from Charles Jacobsen, separated it in two pieces to create a counter top and overhead cabinet. The rich kitchen cabinets are also further accentuated by the beautiful petrified wood countertops and antique mirrors. Just as I found myself at home in this country almost 30 years ago, these Japanese antique pieces seem to be perfectly comfortable in this culturally diverse home.

To see more of this unit, click here.

Now buckle up for the Holiday Season!

Did you know this Sunday, September 11 (yes, the 10th anniversary of that unforgettable day) is also the National Grandparents Day? It falls on the first Sunday after the Labor Day.

It was established in 1978 to “honor grandparents and to strengthen the bond between grandparents and grandchildren, AND to draw compassionate attention to the eldest of society’s elderly.”

I have discovered through my photography, the images of our parents and grandparents in their daily life carry tremendous impact of preserving the bond with them and memories of who they are.

Custom design hard cover photo books would certainly do a great job of celebrating the people we cherish in our lives! See the samples: Joe & Marie or An Afternoon With Helen.

Last month I participated in a photography workshop with my teacher and an established architectural photographer, Doug Hill, for a weekend filled with opportunities to shoot some historical buildings downtown Los Angeles.

Although I’ve lived in Los Angeles almost 30 years, I never really appreciated the rich history of the city. During the weekend, we photographed 4 different architectural gems: Los Angeles Public Library, One Bunker Hill, Million Dollar Theater, and Bradsbury Building, which all go back a good 100 years in time.

To see more photos from these historical landmarks in Los Angeles, click here

Enjoy what’s remaining of the summer.

And if you have a chance, I highly recommend exploring downtown L.A.!

George bought this little 687-sq.ft house in 2004 in Mar Vista. The house was built in 1946, and it was in a BAD shape when he got it. All the windows had iron bars, the ceilings were falling, the floor tiles were peeling, and just looking very sad over all.