The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handheld and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.

It's been a while since we last put up a mini-gallery to spotlight a photographer's work, so we're returning to old habits and doing just that for this edition of The DS Life. This week's featured shutterbug: Tokyo-based writer and editor James Hadfield. Before we jump into James' portfolio, let's begin with a photo of spring bliss, an afternoon spent sprawled on cool sheets by an open window, trees in bloom and skies clear outside.

James calls himself as an "amateur(ish) photographer" in his Flickr profile, but we have a hard time accepting that description of his abilities. Mostly because we also consider ourselves amateur photographers, and we've never produced anything half this level of quality. So, what does that make us? What's the step below "amateur photographers?" Incompetent photographers?


James' Pentax Spotmatic camera began to act up last May, producing unpredictable but delightful shots as the result of a mechanical failure. Rather than have the expensive equipment fixed, he decided to play with the fickle camera and post the results. The next two images are from his set of "Broken Camera" photos.