Continuing from Parts 1 & 2 of my recent photographic trip to Tokyo, Japan, where I continue my exploration of street photography.
After grabbing a quick breakfast at the convenience store right next to this junction, I hung around while waiting for a call. I noticed the light was lovely that morning, took out my camera and started shooting. There’s something I like about this one. Makes me think of my own solitary early morning commutes to work, feeling like the weight of the day ahead was already upon me even before I’d started.
This was shot at another crossroads, about half an hour later at Omotesando Street. I spotted this beautiful mother and daughter pair from across the road and snapped a few photos, feeling again that mixture of excitement at getting a good shot and nervousness at disturbing someone else’s privacy.
This was a happy accident. I probably didn’t think too much of the shot at the time, and only saw this result later back at home. It’s not the best of compositions, but I love how the overexposed sky elevates the star from a Christmas ornament to something altogether mystical.
Omotesando Street, if you’re not familiar with it, is one of the glitzier shopping areas in Tokyo, with high-end boutiques and beautiful shopping centers. Its stores are filled with exquisite items, which are usually pretty high-priced, and its streets are filled with beautiful people – I saw some of the best dressed people I’ve ever seen here.
When I saw this dapper gentleman I just had to take a picture. Later on, I realized this was part of what made taking pictures on the streets of Tokyo so much fun; there are so many well-dressed people there that you’d be hard-pressed not to snap an interesting photograph.
Talking about fashionable, even the motorbikes in Tokyo are full of style. I realized this while watching the traffic go by at a crossroad (yes, lots of crossroads for me that morning). Check out this girl’s funky red ride! She was looking pretty good herself, but I prefer this shot where you really get to focus on the details of her bike.
I was waiting for a friend at this crossroads for a good 40 minutes or so – turns out we were both waiting at the wrong place for each other. But I discovered something while waiting for those 40 minutes with my camera in my hands; lots of fascinating subjects pass by at crossroads. It brings to mind something a travel photographer said to me once: Sometimes you just park yourself at a street corner and shoot everything interesting that passes by.
This is one of my favorite photos from the trip. It encapsulates for me what Henri Cartier-Bresson describes as “…the harmony between subject and form that leads each one of those elements to its maximum of expression and vigor.” I love how the colors work in the lead subject; how the blacks complement the browns while contrasting with the purple and yellow. I love the purposeful stance he’s in as he looks out of the frame. I love how he’s positioned perfectly along the rule of thirds, while the background contains a nice, full crowd just out of focus on the periphery.
I realize that this looks like a perfectly ordinary photo to any viewer, but I suppose it’s one of those photos that have more personal meaning to the photographer than the viewer. I feel as if everything I worked for that morning, shooting on street corners, standing up, sitting down, climbing up, squatting down, twisting and turning, shooting complete strangers, came together in this little chance moment of time that might have missed my eye completely and been lost forever, if not for the instance-stopping frame of my camera.
I love that about photography; the ability to capture meaning and memory in a way which wouldn’t have been possible with the mind and eye alone.
