About John Wells:

I am a photographer / film maker originally from North Hampton, Ohio living in Kyoto Japan since 1993. I also work as a web and graphic designer, and in fine arts mediums including oil painting.

Photography:

Themes include people and places around Kyoto and Shiga Japan, Mongolia and Turkey, as well as some studio work inspired by early European surrealism taken in a Japanese-style room in my house.

Work is mostly shot with a Pentax 67 (6 x 7 cm format), and Canon EOS 630 (35mm format), as well as various digital compact and SLR cameras. I work with an excellent lab in Kyoto for the creation of color prints from reversal film, and I print black and white negative images in my dark room at home.

View details of photo exhibitions and publications here.

Filmmaking:

I studied film and video production at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio from 1988 to 1993. I co-founded the production company Mediaworks Japan in 1996, and have worked since that time as a freelance cameraman for several international television and documentary films.

Support for International Media Productions in Japan:

Along with other Mediaworks Japan members, I provide all kinds of support for international producers who shoot in Japan, such as fixing, coordinating, production management, location scouting, hiring of local crew and equipment, as well as helping with the day to day of working and traveling in Japan.

Other intersts:

Mongolia:

In 2003 I spent 3 months as a student of Mongolian Language in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. At that time I held a solo photo exhibit entitled "Nostalgia for Nationalist Squid and Other Tales" at the Mongolian Theatre Museum in the National Palace of Culture in Suukhbaatar Square. During that time I also met with many film directors and students at film schools in Ulaanbaatar. I created this Mongolian film history website which is still in progress, gathering information from existing Mongolian and Japanese texts. A gallery of some of my photos from Mongolia can be seen here.

Turkey:

In 2005 and 2006 I spent a total of 4 months in Turkey taking photos and co-producing a documentary film about naturally dyed carpet weaving in the Milas region of southwest Turkey. This is our Bozalan village website, which is the community featured in our documentary. This film wil debut at the American Textile Association symposium in Honolulu in September 2008.