Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: May 31, 2007
Article Type: Journal

Holder of a master’s degree in art, Murooka, of Tokyo, took up KAP as a release from his job teaching architectural drafting. It also led him to travel widely, spreading the word about the hobby. Needing the most stable platform in the sky for his photography, experimentation has shown him the Parafoil best suits his needs. It flies at a high angle and easily lifts a 4 ½ pound camera rig in a decent wind. The kite doesn’t break and packs down for transportation. Although kites are a means to an end for Murooka, his handmade ones are of exceptional merit, well made, handsome, functional. Murooka favors a single lens reflex camera shooting 400 ASA film at a shutter speed up to 1/1,000th of a second. He mostly uses a wide-angle lens and sometimes a fisheye. Photos are made via radio-control. Servo mechanisms enable him to control the camera’s rotation and varying downward angles. Using KAP as a research tool, Murooka has photographed the environment, geology, flora and fauna, the ocean, even sports projects. He has photographed underground dwellings in China, a savannah in Peru, a Japanese woman climber attempting Mount Everest, a landmine field in Cambodia. He has done archeological documentation in Akoris, Egypt, and Pompeii. He has published two books on his work. Not surprisingly, he is chairman of the Japan Kite Aerial Photography Association. Murooka’s ambition is to mix kite photography with other disciplines to attain interesting new syntheses. As an example, he wants to study air pollution by taking photos and also researching atmospheric temperatures, humidity, wind pressure, wind velocity, even pollen distribution.

PDF Link: Journal Issue