Bio
In 1993 after a short-lived professional soccer career, Peter decided to leave his hometown of Halifax Nova Scotia and retire leaving the soccer world for Japan’s floating world. It was Kyoto, the ancient capital now a cultural hub of that captivated and inspired him to pick up his camera and brushes and begin a new life in the arts.
With more than 1,200 years of history as the center of Japanese culture, Kyoto provided Peter with numerous subjects for his work. However it didn’t take long for him to find his niche, the karyukai, the world of the geisha.
Although off limits to most, Peter soon was taken under the wings of many established members of Kyoto society which opened doors to him and his camera and brushes. Known well by all the locals as the strange foreigner who wears kimono and speaks the local dialect like a native, he is a real part of the community.
He occasionally appears on Japanese television and works with foreign media as a fixer as well a being interviewed and referenced by scholars and writers worldwide for his extensive knowledge on Kyoto’s geisha culture. He was a location scout and cultural liaison for Hollywood’s adaptation of Arthur Golden’s best selling novel “Memoirs of a Geisha”.
Since 2008, he has been lecturing at Kansai University in Osaka on “Geisha Culture Through Western Media”, a course which he created. He and his wife Aya enjoy visiting galleries and museums around the world and make time to seek out new restaurants and watering holes in Kyoto as well as other parts of Japan.
