Jim O’Connell and Dan Buzzo in THE bar in Kabukicho
This is the legendary Jim O’Connell on the right and my good friend Dan Buzzo on the left who spent the evening speaking about the creative muses (was it three or nine?) in the photographers bar (I never remember the name of the place) in Kabukicho. Recommended if you like beer or whiskey, photography and tight spaces.
March 2007. I can't believe it's not seen the light of day until now. Shot in the usual Friday night location when thing's were a lot quieter and we were all a little greener. This shot is one of my favorites and one that, in the current light, seems to have more meaning than any of us could have known.
Finally, after some really crappy weather we finally get a decent day in Tokyo. Shot in Omotesando during lunch.
Took the same train to work for two years and started to notice the different thing's people did while seated in a chair that seemed to be quite out of the way of any trains. What I like about the collect is the randomly different thing's most people are doing at any one time. The series has only been edited to keep the basic format the same (seems I shot more using 35mm than asselblad 120).
I've visited Hakone several times by train and bus and also several times by bicycle. What I didn't realize was that the actual place extends quite far and that there is such a huge variety of places to visit within the area. I'm going to be coming back fairly soon to explore more.
Two shots from the trip. Always good to go in a typhoon. Makes for better sky's :-)
Most people in this 13 millions person city do thing's in groups. Wearing masks I guess is one of them.
I've been going through a series I've been working on - eventually working my way up to editing it in some way that adds meaning to what I have shot (always nice to figure it out in reverse. Kind of like designing a logo and thinking up the bollocks rational after to go with it). I've decided that revisiting the images after about 2 years starts to give you a nice perspective on them. This is one that could well fit into several themes I could have going with the collection. Who knows!? Better to get a few out into the wild than let them all just rot on my drives. I'll make a second call out to those in the know about the editing assistance. I'm sure at some stage the series will see the light of day. In the mean time I'll likely post the ones that don't make it here and the ones that do over to the soon to be revamped 50mm.jp.
Another take on the previous version of the image with a different colour pallette. Which do you prefer?
Shot taken about a year ago on a trip to Kanazawa. Colour version of the better original black and white
Blind man – Koenji
This is almost the depth of field that I feel can give an image a movie like atmosphere. There is this sweet spot with different lenses used and finding that sweet spot (the distance between the subject, the camera and the f stop) is always that challenge. Especially when you have no control over the subject. In the previous post I speak about colour pallettes. While this shot is lacking what goes a way to helping is the film used to achieve or at least shift the temperature of the shot. Is this shot feeling warm or cool to you?
The difficult part about these shots is the colour pallette. I don't particularly like the pallette in this shot but you need to start with something and finding a minimal pallette on the street is not an easy task let alone hoping the right subject matter will enter the frame with the right attitude. I'm interested to know if anyone who reads / looks at this blog considers such thing's.
Tiny station just outside of Okutama
There is a interesting little walk to be had around Okutama area. One day last year (or was it the year before?) I took the train out with a load of camera gear to take a few pictures. Ended up walking through someones yard to get to a road and to the above station called Shiromaru which you'll find is the stop just before Okutama. There is quite a lot of walking involved if you are searching for something of interest so I suggest doing a bit of research before you embark to save your legs for the interesting stuff.
Yurakucho on a Friday night. You have to know where to look but there is some entertainment to be had watching the salary men return home at the end of the week.
Shinjuku station. Always on time.
Another from a very large collection I seem to have.
Sometimes you have to take this kind of shot just to get it out of your system. Well, I've done it now so I can finally move on. This was shot with a 50mm and an extension tube for those that care for these things. If you are looking for a relaxing escape from the usual over crowded parks of Tokyo you might want to take a look at this one.
I was about to post a similar but lesser image and realized that this shot was not in my main 50mm.jp collection. What an omission! Shot using a Voigtlander Bessa R2A I have tried to repeat this shot countless times with other cameras with no success. This image really describes how Tokyo can feel sometimes or at least feel to the locals.
If you have an monitor running 1920x1200 then open your browser to max and view th slide show. Rather than cut these sequence of shots up I've left them how I've scanned them. When scanning 35mm I usually scan the whole strip to see what I've got and then go back and scan the ones I like at a higher resolution. The last part I never get round to doing. I just scan the strip and forget about it. I don't think any of these shots (maybe 1) have seen the light of day. I have a crap load of these. Figured this sequence was not a bad one in terms of quality vs number of shots taken.
Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.
Another archive shot. Shot it way too dark but love the effect the developer had on the neg. These people look almost posed waiting for the train.
