Born: January 12th 1971 Halifax, Nova ScotiaNationality: Canadian
Resides: Kyoto, Japan
Job description: Cultural liason, photographer, geisha expert, entrepreneur, artist, interpreter.
Born: January 12th 1971 Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nationality: Canadian
Resides: Kyoto, Japan
Job description: Cultural liason, photographer, geisha expert, entrepreneur, artist, interpreter.
It was in 1993 that Peter decided to leave his hometown of 22 years and make his way to Asia. His first stop was Kyoto, Japan. It was this city, the ancient Japanese capital, that inspired Peter to pick up his camera and brushes and begin a new career in the arts. With more that a thousand years of history as being the center of the traditional arts, Kyoto provided Peter with numerous subjects for his work.
However, it didnft take long for him to find his niche, the secret world of the geisha. Although off limits to most, thanks to very important introductions by leading members of the community, Peter soon found the geisha opening their doors to him and his camera (albeit slowly).
In 1999, Peter married Hanagumo Tayuu, who was an active Tayuu (a top-level traditional entertainer in the geisha district Shimabara). Together they opened the bar "Hanagumo" in March 2006. His bar also offers geisha parties in it's banquet room, which Peter interprets for.
Through his various training in the arts such as traditional dance, calligraphy, sumie and flower arrangement, Peter has trained his eye to capture the real beauty of his subjects by sharing an understanding of their vigorous artistic training. This mutual respect and trust allows the geisha to relax and even ignore Peterfs presence giving him complete freedom and a unique perspective to create truly original work. His works have been used by the Japanese National Tourist Association and are also in many private collections around the world.
As of 2007, Peter has been living in Kyoto for a decade and a half. Although, as his friends say, he doesn't just live in Kyoto, he lives Kyoto. His house is in the famous Gion geisha district, and his office is in the Miyagawa-cho geisha district. Known well by all the locals as the foreinger who wears kimonos and speaks Kyoto dialect Japanese, he is a real part of the community. He has also appeared on Japanese TV many times,@as well as in countless documentaries. In 200X he worked with the crew of Memoirs of a Geisha to teach them about geisha culture and help them scout locations for the film.
Peter was also the first foreigner to take geisha and maiko overseas without the help of a Japanese imtermediatary. He has participated in several big events, including the New York Times Travel Show in 2006. He has also taken geisha and maiko to San Francisco, Switzerland, England and Finland.