Underwater Transformation About Face Underwater Transformation About Face

Solo Exhibit at Tokyo Gallery Midoriso

art show
May 7, 2014/by
水中ポートレイト写真家、下田恵玲奈が手がける水中ヒーリング  プロジェクトの展示会『Underwater Healer About Face"』 Solo Exhibit at Tokyo Gallery Midoriso 展示会 2014年 17日（土）18日（日）12:00~17:00 オープニング•レセプション•パーティー 日時 : 2014年 5月 16日（金）18:00～21:00 場所 : 中目黒「みどり荘」 東京都 目黒区青葉台3311 2階/ 3階 http://midori.so/ カリフォルニア州サンフランシスコをベースに活躍する水中写真家、下田恵玲奈が癌克服者に捧げるプロジェクト。水中でのヒーリング活動を手がける下田恵玲奈の願い、それは、癌克服者が自己の美を再び見いだせるよう、彼らの内成るパワーを引き出すチームとなること。 癌克服者が経験する癌告知から手術、治療、副作用、そして再発への恐怖といった経験。それは肉体的にも精神的にも 辛いトラウマ的な経験だが、癌を通じて生に向き合い諦めずにチャレンジするというかけがえのない経験から彼らは自らの人生をさらに強く美しく塗り替える生命力を得るのだと下田は語る。癌サバイバーが再び自信を取り戻し、セルフイメージを高める事が出来るように、彼らの内なる輝きを水中ポートレイトとして贈る手助けを活動の一貫とし、２０１３年、アメリカ各地にて１３人の癌克服者達の写真撮影を行う。２０１４年の３月、彼らの美しいイメージと、ストーリーを記した本を出版。そして今回初の東京での展示会がギャラリーみどり荘にて開催されることとなった。 画期的で慈悲に満ちあふれる下田恵玲奈の世界観を五感で体験する３日間。 http://underwaterhealer.com/testimonials http://igg.me/at/aboutface/x/1633174 Erena Shimoda's "Underwater Healer About Face" Solo Exhibit at Tokyo Gallery, Midoriso May 17 (Sat.) and May 18 (Sun.), 2014 12:00~17:00 opening reception May 16 (Fri.) 18:00～21:00 San Francisco, CA – April 21, 2014 Erena Shimoda, a San Francisco-based underwater photographer has launched an innovative and philanthropic fundraiser to benefit cancer survivors by rediscovering their beauty through underwater portrait photography. Solo Exhibit at Tokyo Gallery Midoriso In 2013, Shimoda photographed 13 cancer survivors across the United States and published a corresponding book of the photographs and beautiful stories of the survivors. She will be exhibiting her photographs as well as her book at Midoriso in Tokyo, May...
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Genentech USMA conference in Arizona, Phoenix

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May 6, 2014/by
Genentech USMA conference I was invited to Genentech USMA conference in Arizona, Phoenix from April 21-25 to present my underwater healer project. They flew me out and gave me a gorgeous hotel!! For the opening night to welcome us, the band, Pink Martini played! I wish I had talked to them! Sante Johnson came with me to give a beautiful speech in front of more than 500 doctors. She was one of the survivors from my underwater healer about face campaign, 2013. She survived from breast cancer. In the end of 2013, she was diagnosed and she is sick again. She agreed to share her experience going through her treatment. (Thank you, Sante!) Monday night, We finally got to meet the organizers and Sante rehearsed her speech. Tuesday was the BIG day for us. Sante's husband sent flowers to wish us the best of luck!! So sweet! Thank youuu-!! Then we checked out my images if they arrived safely from SF! Whewww they did! Sante's speech time! The place was packed!! I was so nervous for her! I was holding an iPad to take video. Her speech was beautiful. She talked about her artistic life and experience going through her treatment. She also talked about my underwater healer project how therapeutic it was to experience the transformation. When she finished her speech, everybody stood up. I started crying! After the speech, we all went upstairs to see my images. I stood right next to them and Q and A sessions with everyone who appreciated my work. They were...
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Underwater Healer Project Book Release Party

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April 17, 2014/by
Underwater Healer Project Book Release Party Thank you so much for coming to my book release party!! It was a full 3 hours and I hope I've got to say Hi and Bye to everyone! I was selling my first self-published book from the cancer survivor campaign. All the money is going to be spent for Tokyo Gallery show in May. My mother was helping me out all night long-!   I was also selling my metal prints from my Japanese Folklore Yokai Project. It was selling a lot! All the small ones are GONE! I printed 10 canvas gallery wraps from my cancer survivor project and these are shipped to Arizona for Genentech Conference. I packed and shipped on Monday! I hope they arrived safely.... One of the cancer survivors, Sante came to support my party! I'll be going to Arizona with her. She is giving a big talk in front of 500+ audience about her experience of  transformation and letting go. She is also going to mention about the underwater healer project experience. I'm so thrilled and grateful to be a part of medical conference with my project! I'll be showing my work and Q and A after Sante's talk. It was so nice to see everyone. I was really nervous how it was going to turn out but I'm happy with the result! I still have some books left before I take them all to Tokyo. If you are interested, please email me. Thank you so much again for your support! I'm grateful...
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Come celebrate for my first self-published book!!

about
March 31, 2014/by
April 12 Come celebrate for my first self-published book!! @WORKSHOP 1798 McAllister Street, San Francisco, California 94115 I recently self published a photo book of 13 cancer survivors and their inspirational stories. https://www.behance.net/gallery/Underwater-Healer-About-Face-Photo-Book/15560457 I would love to celebrate both the success of the indiegogo campaign http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/underwater-healer-about-face and the book release with my contributors, friends and family. I'll also be showing and selling both prints and the photo book. All the proceeds will go toward renting a Tokyo gallery space, MIDORI.SO for my exhibition that will happen in May. My work was featured on different media. (yay, thank youuuuu-!) http://underwaterhealer.com/press Most recently, it was featured on Comprehensive Cancer Center site http://www.cccnevada.com/2014/02/05/underwater-photographer-uses-art-to-empower-cancer-survivors/ (Thank you sooooo much!) I was invited to USMA conference, organized by Genentech in the end of April. (This is craaaaazy!) It means a lot to see this project spreading around! THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support, everyone! I would not have been able to do this campaign without your support!! Besides my book, I'll be selling my YOKAI metal prints and other canvas prints from the previous shows. Prices are half of the gallery price.   Hope to see you there. Erena (and it's my...
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Underwater Healer About Face Photo Book

Uncategorized
March 5, 2014/by
Underwater Healer About Face Photo Book Hundred copies of Underwater Healer About Face photo book finally arrived today! I worked on the book for 2-3 months. It seemed forever... It was a whole new experience designing a book and learning InDesign at the same time... I was really nervous to open the book and see if I made any mistakes.... I found few! (shhhhhhh-...) I remember I was exhausted and going blind towards the end. But I'm really happy to see my final product!!! Thank you! I got a sad news from NY few days ago. Emily Morrison passed away. I met her for the first time in NY photo shoot. Even though Emily has gone through a lot of difficulty, I was totally blown away by her positive energy. Her amazing spirit motivated me, especially since she wrote, “Have Under Water photos taken” in her "To-see list," a wish list of all the things she wants to do before she loses her eyesight. When Emily and I met, I could tell she was eager and ready to jump in the pool immediately. She thanked me for coming out there and told me how happy and excited she was to do the photo shoot with me. Because of Emily’s ongoing medication and treatment, I wanted to be careful and make sure she was feeling okay. But because we had a good connection from the start, my nervousness began to melt away. I was confident that this photo shoot would head in a good direction. Emily wore...
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Hawaii Trip – Yoga Retreat, UW yoga photo shoot, Hawaiian Cancer Survivor and friends!

about, Underwater Healer About Face, uw portrait
February 13, 2014/by
I came back from Hawaii a month ago and I'm still keeping my Aloha spirit in me. I was on Maui and Oahu for 6 days! My main plan was to only relax doing yoga retreat at Lumeria with my favorite instructor Lisa Danylchuk. She also worked with me on one of the cancer survivor photo shoots with Erica Yee. The yoga retreat center, Lumeria was gorgeous! I loved the vibe and the architecture design. People are super duper x5 nice and sweet! I was like in the dream being in the nature, practicing yoga, dipping in jaccouzi, swimming in the pool and eating organic delicious food everyday. I was also working on my underwater images and it was my dream office to work at! I brought my camera gear to capture Lisa's amazing yoga poses and the cool yogoni gang we spent 5days with! They all loved the experience and I was happy to work with them. While I was in Maui, I made a decision to meet at least one Hawaiian cancer survivor for an underwater healer photo shoot. I contacted my friend Kimi Werner and she introduced me to Amber Noilani who survived from thyroid cancer when she was 20 years old. I made a spontaneous decision to go to there for 6 hrs to meet them. Due to the Friday traffic, we got to the pool late and we had only 30-40 min. in the water. But I've got to capture Amber's beautiful images and the moment of Amber...
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Happy New Year!!! Underwater healer project will be growing in 2014!

about, Underwater Healer About Face, uw maternity, uw portrait
January 1, 2014/by
Happy New Year, Everyone!! あけまして　おめでとうございます！ 2013 was an amazing, inspirational and evolving year for me. I felt like I was riding on a roller coaster emotionally and physically everyday. It was definitely fun and dizzy :) Looking back into all the underwater portrait photos in 2013, I had 23 portrait photo shoots including survivors, engagement, family and maternity! I was busy towards the end of the year especially working with 10 survivors in 3 states in 3 months besides my full time job! I managed my time to not lose myself and I think I made it through successful result! ２０１３年はとても刺激的で進化した一年でした。毎日、ローラーコースターに乗っているような楽しく、目まいのする、激しい毎日でした。一年を振り返ってみると、今年は２３の水中撮影を終える事ができました。サバイバーの人達、妊婦さん、婚約、ファミリー撮影、昼のお仕事の合間を探しながらスムーズにこなす事ができました。特に年末は１０人のサバイバーを３つのロケーションで３ヶ月で撮ったので風邪を引きましたが　自分を失わず、キャンペーンを成功する事ができたと思います。 My project, Underwater Healer About Face, helping heal cancer survivors through underwater portrait photography, was featured on CBS, The Huffington Post, The Huff Women, BuzzFeed, Weather Channel, IMDb, AsianWeek etc.  It was an exciting moment and I've never felt that kind of chill and goosebumps all over my body inside out. I loved that feeling. (definitely not good for your heart :) キャンペーンは色々なメディアに取り上げられ、多くの人達に見てもらえる事ができました。ドキドキして、鳥肌のがたち、心臓に悪い毎日を過ごしました。 I'm currently working on a book of cancer survivor underwater images with their stories. It'll be in English and Japanese. I'm hoping to extend my project all over the world and reach out to people as much as I can. This is my first book that I'm designing and I hope many people can read it and get inspire. 今はサバイバーのイメージコレクションの写真集をデザインしています。彼らのストーリーもそえてレイアウトしました。初めて自己出版する写真集。日本語にも訳してあるので多くの人達にみていただければ良いなと思います。 Thank you so much. I would not have been able to do this campaign without your support! I hope you all have a fantastic new year! 本当に皆様のご協力のおかげでここまでやって行く事ができました。ありがとうございます。２０１４年も良いお年をお迎え下さい。 Sincerely, Erena　下田恵玲奈 photo by Jeremy...
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The Huffington Post, Girls Talk HQ and Refinery 29

about, Underwater Healer About Face, uw portrait
December 6, 2013/by
Thank you so much, The Huffington Post, Girls Talk HQ and Refinery 29! This week has been awesome and I feel fortunate to get my work pressed by 3 different websites. The Huffington Post Mailet Lopez, a CEO of IHadCancer wrote a blog on The Huffington Post yesterday. I was very much happy to see my work on the website! Girls Talk HQ I contacted Girl Talk HQ by sending email about my work. Asha Dahya got back to me saying that she wants to feature my work on her site! She got all the information from 2 of my web sites and all the other pressed...
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Underwater maternity portrait photography for your eternal memory

about, uw maternity
November 30, 2013/by
Underwater maternity portrait photography for your eternal memory Over the weekend, I reorganized my other portfolio site, erenashimoda.com. I would love to meet new clients going forward. This would be the perfect Underwater maternity portrait photography for your eternal memory! Of course, returning clients are more than welcome!  Underwater maternity photo session has been taking off this year. I've met so many beautiful mothers excited with their new borns. If you know anybody with a happy tummy, please pass my information. Here are some of the sessions from 2013. You can also check out last year's here. Let me know what you think of...
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IMDb, thank you so much!

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October 27, 2013/by
I was just searching my article on the website and I found this on IMDb's website! Thank you for the post, IMDb! Washington, Oct 15: A photographer, who is on a quest to help cancer survivors rebuild their self-esteem, recently conducted an amazing underwater photo shoot for six such survivors. Erena Shimoda told CBS News that after her father died in a car accident, she was physically and emotionally broke and she had to learn how to deal with herself. But by helping other people, she was able to overcome her painful experience, Shimoda said. Shimoda had started an Indiegogo campaign and collaborated with IHadCancer.com to raise 17,000 dollars so she could shoot 10 cancer survivors underwater. However, the money collected was just over 10,000 dollars. But Shimoda decided to go ahead with the project,...
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