In 2023, Vanity Fair’s photographers traveled far and wide to tell our stories. From immortalizing Greta Gerwig on a New York City rooftop to capturing Travis Kelce tossing a football barefoot on the beach to posing Jesmyn Ward against Spanish moss in her coastal hometown of DeLisle, Mississippi, our photographers created a series of unforgettable images, ranging from portraits to still lifes and beyond. Below, take a look back on a year of exploration and reflection through the lenses of artists including Emma Summerton,Steven Klein,Adrienne Raquel,Mario Sorrenti,Norman Jean Roy, and Krista Schlueter.
Jacket by Balenciaga; vintage jumpsuit from Stock Vintage.Photograph by Mario Sorrenti; styled by George Cortina.
Some photos from Cannes are instantly recognizable—from a star in a dramatic gown on the Palais red carpet to a film’s cast at a daytime photo call, smiling in front of the azure sea. But there are other photos that capture moments no one else gets to see, the kind of intimate, one-of-a-kind close-ups that only Saskia Lawaks can capture. Ahead, see the 2023 Cannes Film Festival through her lens.
Japan, high on the bucket list for many travelers due to its popular culture, food, history and art, but often unaffordable for many or overcrowded for others, is now in a “sweet spot” to visit.
Japan was among the countries that took longer to reopen to foreign travelers after COVID pandemic closures, finally welcoming visa-free tourism in October 2022. And the first foreign tourists to return to historically expensive Japan have found a much more affordable country to visit.
The Japanese yen has weakened against all major currencies: In March 2020, as the pandemic began to spread, the yen averaged 107.54 verses the U.S. dollar. But since then, due in large part to the difference in interest rates between Japan (near zero) and the rest of the world (rising rates), the yen is now sitting around 134 to the U.S. dollar, meaning you can essentially think of it as a “25% off” sale on Japan compared with the prices before the pandemic. In a post-pandemic inflationary world, few things are cheaper these days, but travel in Japan is one of them.
Given the weakness in the yen, one would expect tourists to have returned in droves, but that hasn’t happened yet. The first three months since Japan’s reopening (October to December 2022) saw 2.8 million foreign visitors compared with just 55,000 in the same period of 2021, but in 2019, it was 7.5 million.
Though major cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto will continue to see the majority of visitors in 2023, many rural areas that had been popular destinations prior to the pandemic have used the time off to create more immersive initiatives and experiences for visitors, both domestic and foreign. For many of these tourism-dependent areas, adapting to the “new normal” was essential to their survival. The Japanese government also created incentive programs to encourage domestic residents to rediscover their homeland, and there has been a noticeable increase in Japanese tourists visiting areas that they had previously skipped.
Below are some of the most beautiful locations around Japan to see right now.
Gokayama
Gokayama is a cluster of farming villages deep in the mountains of Toyama in central Japan. Along with the more famous Shirakawa-go in neighboring Gifu, it is part of an UNESCO World Heritage site known for its traditional way of life and its A-frame houses with steeply pitched thatch roofs designed to survive heavy winter snows. Some of these houses have been converted into guesthouses.
The villages invested in adding COVID-19 preventive measures in the guesthouses as well as in reducing capacity. They also began to offer English lessons to residents in preparation for the return of English-speaking visitors.
A boy on his bicycle in the village of Ainokura, Gokayama. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its traditional thatched-roof farmhouses.
A woman in Gokayama works with boiled kozo (mulberry) to separate the bark from the fibers and remove impurities as a step in the traditional washi paper-making process.
According to Yukie Yamazaki, the spokesperson of the Gokayama Tourist Information Center, before the pandemic, 70% of visitors who stayed in the guesthouses were foreigners; in recent days, though the total number of visitors has returned to 70% of pre-pandemic levels, the villages have started to appeal to Japanese travelers as well, leading to a more authentic experience for all visitors.
A Kokiriko dancer performs a traditional dance native to this region in front of a house in Ainokura, Gokayama.
Twilight at Ainokura, Gokayama.
In addition to the appeal of disconnecting by staying in a quiet, historic village, activities include washi paper-making and attending traditional Kokiriko dance and music performances.
Karuizawa
Karuizawa is a mountain resort about 65 minutes northwest of Tokyo by bullet train that has long been the apple of affluent Japanese travelers’ eyes. Once a “rest stop” on the old Nakasendo Trail that linked Kyoto and Edo (present-day Tokyo), Karuizawa was relaunched in the late 1800s as a place for Canadian missionaries to get away from Tokyo’s summer heat, and it has held a great appeal to summer home owners, celebrities including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and regional artists. Known primarily as a place to “get away,” the town has refocused on the remote worker, investing in designer co-working spaces and housing opportunities to cater to a new class of traveler who can work from anywhere while simultaneously creating art experiences, such as outdoor festivals, to appeal to visitors.
Late afternoon clouds shroud the peak of Mount Asama. Karuizawa is on the southern slopes of this volcano.
Visitors walk across a bridge at Kumoba Pond, an iconic reflecting pool in Karuizawa known for its vibrant autumn foliage.
Shiraito Falls in Karuizawa is known for its veil-like water and vibrant green moss.
A bullet train arrives in the fog at Karuizawa Station.
A white egret flies in to join its mates at Kumoba Pond, Karuizawa.
Naoshima, Shikoku and the Seto Inland Sea
On the subject of art experiences, few places have garnered as much attention as the “art islands” of the Seto Inland Sea, headlined by Naoshima and Teshima. Museums and art installations are interspersed through these walkable, ferry-networked islands between Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku and Okayama on the mainland. Although the museums and facilities themselves are not new, installations and updates are constant, and a triennial international art festival has further cemented its status as an art mecca.
A boy stands in front of Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin” at Benesse House Museum. The sculpture was restored and placed here in October 2022 after the original was damaged by a typhoon.
This bicycle shelter art installation was created by SANAA, the Pritzker Prize-winning duo of architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa in Naoshima.
The cafe (foreground) and museum of the Teshima Art Museum, Benesse Foundation, designed by Ryue Nishizawa in Teshima.
When visiting after the triennial in late 2022, the islands still remained quiet compared with the days before the pandemic. On a warm and sunny afternoon in Naoshima, a drive past the freshly restored Yayoi Kusama pumpkin sculpture that had been destroyed by a 2021 typhoon, saw one lone visitor posing for a selfie. On a 2019 visit at the same time of year in a torrential downpour, there was a 20-minute wait for people in line to take pictures with the polka-dotted gourd.
Museum visitors walk by Bruce Nauman’s “100 Live and Die” at Benesse House Museum in Naoshima.
The “Oval” at Benesse House Museum in Naoshima by Tadao Ando, another Pritzker Prize-winning architect.
An overnight stay at the Benesse House Museum allows one to explore after hours ― one other lone visitor and I had the run of the museum to ourselves, which features artists including Bruce Nauman, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Jennifer Bartlett and David Hockney. “A night at the museum” in every sense of the word, it is an otherworldly experience.
A “top of the world” swing at the summit of the Unpenji Ropeway in Tokushima, Shikoku.
A golden ginkgo tree and some of the 500 rakan (Buddhist ascetics) statues at Unpenji, Temple No. 66 of the 88-temple Ohenro pilgrimage trail in Shikoku.
Four of the 500 rakan statues at Unpenji, Shikoku.
Shikoku is also home to the legendary pilgrimage route called the Ohenro, which consists of 88 Buddhist temples dispersed throughout the four prefectures that make up Japan’s smallest island. Each temple has its own distinct character, providing for a very different experience from the more unified Zen temple designs of areas like Kyoto. On one fall afternoon, at the mountaintop Unpenji Temple in Tokushima (No. 66 of 88), I found myself in an “amphitheater” of 500 “Arhat” statues (Buddha’s apprentices), watched over by a lone ginkgo in its spectacular golden glory.
With experiences like these, a weaker yen and investments in new experiences and infrastructure to cater to visitors, Japan is sure to be a popular destination for travelers in 2023.
See more photos of Japan by George Nobechi below.
A gate door of Kochi Castle in Kochi, Shikoku.
A couple poses for their wedding photographs at a temple garden in Shikoku.
Aboard a ferry on the Seto Inland Sea, near Takamatsu, Shikoku.
A view across the Seto Inland Sea to the Shimanami Highway in Ehime, Shikoku.
Persimmon trees in Shimanto, Shikoku.
A pharmacy, karaoke hall and hair salon at night in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo.
A woman strolls by a field of flowers on a late afternoon in Tokyo’s Hamarikyu Garden.
A piano, available for public performances, was painted by Yayoi Kusama at the Metropolitan Government Building in Tokyo.
Mount Fuji and a factory chimney seen from the Tokaido Shinkansen (bullet train).
High school students in Takayama, Gifu.
A rainy day in the Katamachi District in Kanazawa.
Rooftops of the historic district of Kurashiki, Okayama.
Putting out the garbage for collection in Takayama, Gifu.
Businessmen walk through the Higashi-chayagai historic teahouse district of Kanazawa.
A woman sells handmade cloth sandals at the Wajima Morning Market on Noto Peninsula.
A vendor closes up her stall and wheels it away for the day at the Wajima Morning Market on Noto Peninsula.
A Zen Buddhist monk at Soyuji Temple in Takayama, Gifu.
At the seashore on Noto Peninsula.
Fall colors at Senjogahara Marsh in Oku-Nikko, Tochigi.
Everyone wants to give a thoughtful unique gift for the holidays. Here are some of the hottest gift ideas for 2016 for photo & genealogy lovers.
Press Release –
updated: Nov 30, 2016
Pleasant View, Utah, November 30, 2016 (Newswire.com)
– Now that the holidays have arrived, Larsen Digital has taken note of current trends and compiled a list of the top four photo and video gift ideas for 2016. Being a top provider in the photo and video conversion industry, Larsen Digital is focused on helping consumers around the world make the most of past memories, and giving ideas on how to share those highlights with others.
1- Preserve a Loved One’s Memories by converting photos, videos, and audio to digital. In converting old film to digital, it allows freedom for the owner to use past memories anytime, anywhere. It also gives the opportunity for those memories to be immortalized if proper storage methods are used, and it immediately ceases the fading and deterioration that all film suffers from. Larsen Digital is the premier name in the film conversion industry, and can help accomplish this task with ease and affordability.
2- Use Photos in a Craft. When photos are in digital form, an individual can print endless copies and use them for various activities- including making crafts. One of the top DIY craft ideas using photos employs the technique of “mod-podging” photos on various surfaces such as wooden plaques or metal for a unique wall hanging or small tiles that can be utilized as coasters.
3- Give Safe File Storage. While digitized photos and videos are no longer subject to deterioration, they can still fall victim to crashed hard drives. A great option would be a paid subscription to an online storage provider that is responsible for the safekeeping of one’s priceless belongings. Not only will this give the gift of peace and mind, but it can also give the gift of accessibility, as many providers allow customers to view files online from any device with a secured login.
4- Compile a Memory Book. There are several great photo book providers that offer a quality product to help put a loved one’s memories front and center. Either fill the photo book with photographic highlights from throughout the years, or include words along with the digital photos of why that memory stands out, or what happened behind the lens of the camera at that time.
Any gift that embraces the emotion from one’s life is a winner, but these trends can help jump start a remarkable present that will keep on giving for generations to come. If help is needed in getting old photos and videos digitized, Larsen Digital is the most trusted name in the film conversion industry. Having been in business for over 20 years, Larsen Digital has been able to expand their service line to include the conversion of photos, negatives, slides, movie film, video tapes, audio tapes and more.
