Home on Toto Tvalavadze

Hello walkers, flâneurs, and fellow hay fever-affected, teary-eyed fur-balls—I feel you.

Completed setup and renovation of my darkroom at Kyojima Studio with proper organization, light-sealing, and equipment installation.

Hello fellow walkers and flâneurs, It’s been a while since we last connected.

Prepared Michibiki Vol. 2 exhibition at Jinny Street Gallery.

Preamble: Valoi’s easy35 system has been a godsend for 35mm black-and-white photographers.

The Problem: The Pentax Digital Spot Meter is an amazing tool that is extremely easy to use, but it lacks a clear visualization system for placing tones onto Ansel Adams’ Zone System or simply on an EV scale.

Developed new sections for toto.photo—exhibitions, press coverage, and a works archive.

These rules are often misattributed to John Cage, but were written by Corita Kent.

Version PRO II of the RZ67 features a delicate fine-focus knob that operates through a gear reducer.

I have a Lucky CP32 color paper processor.

I briefly owned a Horseman 45FA and had trouble finding good lens boeards for the lenses I own.

Walking is a cure.

The Problem: When shooting long-term projects with multiple film types across various cameras and film backs, it’s easy to lose track of which camera or back is loaded with which film and at what N-value or ISO rating.

Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972) was set in a future that should have felt distant to the audience when the film was released.

Completed the Punctum Exhibition Catalog – now available for purchase.

The Problem: Shooting film in fast-paced, time-sensitive environments outside of Japan.

The Problem: Carrying photographic accessories—like filters, batteries, and film canisters—along with everyday items such as keys, an AirTag, band-aids, lipstick, and painkillers—without hassle.

The Problem: When bulk-rolling film, it’s challenging to quickly and accurately note metadata—such as which canister the film was loaded into, when it was exposed, and when it was shot—without risking loss or confusion of this information.

To keep track of frames when shooting on film, I needed a reliable tracking system for each roll of film (or sheet).

Visited several art venues including Artizon Museum and Hiroshi Senju Museum in Karuizawa Explored photography gear changes Set up of Punctum exhibition for Jinny Street Gallery Insightful discussion about entering the art world with Jeremy Found inspirat…

Worked on book projects including printing Out of Memory Vol. 9 Tskaltubo photos accepted for publication in Atlas of Ruins book Managed Jinny Street Gallery activities, including an Artist Walk Trip to Bucharest, Romania Started Transcendental Meditation…

Spent time in Georgia and Tbilisi Took a trip to Kazbegi, staying at Rooms Hotel with views of Mount Kazbegi – never gets old.

Continued work on Out of Memory series Set up and organized the Studio Thank you for keeping RSS alive.

Italian road-trip: Rome, Siena, Lucca, Cinque Terre, and Porto Venere.

Attended the Yokohama Triennale Finished setting up a darkroom at the studio Published new Lemon Sour and shop pages for Jinny Street Gallery Made a music station at home—a dream that still seems so far away.

Launched the Jinny Lemon Sour project at the beginning of the month I have new dedicated studio in Tokyo!

Averaged 13.5 km walking through Tokyo with RZ67 (it’s heavy!)

Set up Sean Lotman’s exhibition at Jinny Street Gallery; Grateful to have him in the gallery.

Released Out of Memory Vol. 8 and received the printed copies Started learning Fusion 360 for future projects Started transitioning towards darkroom-focused workflow Began experimenting with an odd 16-lens camera from Fujifilm Explored Venice during Carni…

Wrote a few dispatches for The Flâneur newsletter.

In my world, photo books hold a special kind of reverence.

In my world, photo books hold a special kind of reverence.

Hello, fellow walkers.

Completed and installed the group exhibition Michibiki at Jinny Street Gallery; one of my pieces, “Ocean Eyes,” was also there.

Planned and organized the Michibiki exhibition; this must be the shortest notice Lorenzo and I have ever worked with.

Hosted Sante Visioni at Jinny Street Gallery.

Climbed Mount Fuji!

Visited Enoshima, Onomichi, Naoshima, and Kyoto.

Began work on the I Know You (P0352) photography project Developed concept for a Light Meter Watch (P0354) inspired by the Seiko Metronome Completed development of Toto Command Center (P0360), evolved from the previous CLI project into a menu-bar applicat…

Set up Jinny Street Gallery’s fifth exhibition with Lorenzo Participated in an NHK World interview and documentary about the gallery, which aired on June 28th and featured both gallery operations and a photo walk Attended Fuego: NEEDLESS performance, which

Completed maintenance and cleaning work on Jinny Street Gallery display boxes with Lorenzo Conducted a Nabeghlavi photo shoot Attended Kyotographie 2023 in Kyoto, discovering photographer Mabel Poblet’s work Finished building a custom macropad for Project…

Launched Jinny Street Gallery’s third exhibition Completed a 9-day Brompton Rando cycling tour across Japan from Tokyo to Onomichi Started learning traditional Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock carving technique Attended Rainbow Disco Club outdoor electronic mus…

Launched Jinny Street Gallery’s second exhibition Ropetine Street by Kohei Shibusawa Received media coverage for Jinny Street Gallery including features in The Asahi Shimbun and Tokyo Weekender print edition Completed video interview with Tokyo Weekender…

Got my first 3D printer!

Officially opened Jinny Street Gallery with the inaugural exhibition setup and launch Gained significant media attention for Jinny Street Gallery with features in The Asahi Shimbun (national newspaper) and Canon Photo Circle Completed my participation in…

Hello walkers.

Completed the initial setup and promotion of Jinny Street Gallery Created an hand-carved artist hanko for myself Took a week-long trip to Hanoi, Vietnam for the Fuego/Tokyo takeover event series Visited the Print Museum in Tokyo to study their permanent a…

Hello dear walkers; this is yet another infrequent message from me — Toto — the person who wishes to write more but can’t for every reason imaginable (more on this later.)

Successfully hosted the Wirescapes exhibition at UNTITLED SPACE Kyojima for 10 days, managing setup, daily operations, and takedown with significant attendance including opening night crowds Officially launched Jinny Street Gallery by installing 27 custom…

Finished Out of Memory Vol. 6 Traveled to Kanazawa, Takayama, and Shirakawa-go Saw Yves Klein at 21st Century Museum, and Masaru Iwai, Yuki Tawada, and Keiko Kimoto at TOP Museum Launched Wirescapes exhibition Completed three major Tokyo walks: Oji to Yas…