Distancing

Spending time with a geisha in training in Kyoto this year, I was struck by what a dedicated artist she is. She studies her crafts of painting, playing musical instruments, dance, makeup artistry, ikebana and many more arts from sun up to sun down every day. She has been doing this since she was 14 years old and has committed to do so for her entire life. I was honored that she posed with me for photos, as you are not typically allowed to get close to or touch the geisha. There is such a vast distance between her eastern culture and my western one.